Central check for mid-day meal program ========================= With reports of poor quality mid-day meals being served in three districts of West Bengal ~ Murshidabad, Malda, Cooch Behar ~ a ten-member team from the Centre is coming to the state on 19 November to take stock of the situation. The committee consisting of ten members of the Sarva Shiksha Mission(SSM) will be accompanied by state government officials on their visit to the districts. In 2009, the Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG) in a stinging report had pulled up the state government for “indifferent planning and monitoring of the mid-day meal scheme .” The report pointed out, how nearly half a decade after the scheme was launched, students in as many as 7,321 primary schools were yet to be covered. The state has about 49,200 primary schools. It also brought to light several other discrepancies in its implementation. Even senior officials of the state government admit that the quality of the food served under the scheme is sub-standard. As per norms set by the government of India, allocation of food grains (e.g. rice) is fixed at 100 gm per student at Primary School level (From Class I-Class V) and 150 gm per student at Upper Primary level (Class VI-VII). Additionally, the government also allots Rs.3.33 per student per day at the primary level and Rs.4.65 per student at the upper primary level for additional expenditure like cooking oil, fuel cost and vegetables etc. According to the education department, the government allots this fund on the basis of 85 per cent attendance at school. According to researchers involved in the monitoring of the programme, the school managements use this fund to pay the Self Help Group (SHG) workers for cooking and other related work. The Statesman 14 Nov 2013
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 01:35:27 +0000
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