Which of the following schemes was launched specifically to promote basic education in India and attract children of school going age to attend classes?

Introduction / Context:
This question is about major social sector schemes in India. Several flagship programmes have aimed to improve education, nutrition, and health. The question focuses on the scheme whose central purpose is to attract children of school going age to attend classes and to promote basic education, especially for children from poorer households.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The schemes listed include Pulse Polio Abhiyan, Operation Flood, Mid Day Meal Scheme, Operation Blackboard, and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
• We must identify which scheme directly uses incentives like meals to pull children into school.
• The emphasis is on attendance and attraction to classes rather than infrastructure alone.

Concept / Approach:
The Mid Day Meal Scheme provides cooked meals to children in primary and upper primary schools. The objectives are to improve nutritional status, encourage enrolment, reduce dropouts, and promote regular attendance. Pulse Polio Abhiyan is a health campaign to eradicate polio. Operation Flood was a dairy development programme. Operation Blackboard aimed to improve basic infrastructure such as classrooms, blackboards, and teaching aids. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is a broader mission to achieve universal elementary education, but the specific attraction through free meals is a feature of the Mid Day Meal Scheme.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify schemes that are clearly not education focused. Pulse Polio Abhiyan relates to health, and Operation Flood relates to milk production.Step 2: Among the education related schemes, distinguish between those that improve infrastructure or universal access and those that directly attract children with incentives.Step 3: Operation Blackboard focuses on providing physical facilities in schools, such as blackboards and classrooms.Step 4: Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is a broad programme for universal elementary education, including infrastructure, teacher recruitment, and community mobilisation.Step 5: The Mid Day Meal Scheme specifically uses provision of meals as an incentive to bring children to school, matching the wording of the question.

Verification / Alternative check:
Think about how parents in poor households might decide whether to send a child to school or to work. A free cooked meal provides a direct economic benefit and reduces hunger, making schooling more attractive. News reports and government documents about the Mid Day Meal Scheme regularly highlight its role in raising enrolment and attendance, which confirms that attraction to school is a core objective.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Pulse Polio Abhiyan is a health initiative to vaccinate children against polio and does not directly address school attendance. Operation Flood helped create the White Revolution in milk production and is an agricultural and cooperative sector programme. Operation Blackboard improves teaching conditions but does not itself provide an incentive like food to children. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is important for education but is not as specifically described as an attraction through meals; the question matches the Mid Day Meal Scheme more closely.

Common Pitfalls:
Because several education programmes exist, candidates may confuse them, especially Operation Blackboard and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The key hint in this question is attract children in school going age to attend classes, which should immediately suggest incentives like mid day meals rather than only infrastructure or general policy. In exam preparation, it helps to make a small table linking each scheme with its main instrument and objective.

Final Answer:
The scheme launched to promote basic education by attracting school going children to attend classes is the Mid Day Meal Scheme.