Special: Mid-day meals only half served

Thiruvananthapuram: If any proof was needed that  Kerala is lagging behind in implementation of the mid-day meal scheme for school children, the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) has just given it. While states like Maharashtra, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Daman and Diu have utilised 100 per cent of the funds allocated for the programme, Kerala has utilised less than 50 per cent going by the ministry's report for the first quarter of the present academic year.

The state has failed to effectively utilise the funds for Management, Monitoring and Evaluation of the mid-day meal scheme, transportation assistance, setting up of kitchen-cum-stores and procurement of kitchen devices, it says.

Going by the report Kerala has utilised merely 64 per cent of the foodgrains allotted to it under the scheme  and  58 per cent of the funds set aside for the cooking.

This is in sharp contrast to the performance of Karnataka  which utilised  77.79 per cent of the foodgrains allotted to it. Punjab ( which utilised 76.81 per cent of the grains allotted), Daman and Diu ( 71.40 per cent),  Himachal Pradesh( 71.31 per cent) and even Bihar ( 70.36 per cent) have also done better than Kerala on this front.

The MHRD ministry is also unhappy with the state for the slow pace at which it is constructing a centralised kitchen cum store for the mid-day meal programme.

Schools blame the poor performance of the state on the government’s failure  to sanction funds on time for the scheme.

  All Kerala School Teachers Union (AKSTU) president, N Sreekumar says while the state government is expected to provide the amount for the scheme in advance to schools, in many cases the teachers fund it from their own pockets and wait to be reimbursed by it.

“As of now, the government has reimbursed the money spent by schools till October 31.  In some schools  bills  are pending due to audit objections,” he claims.

M Shajahan , general secretary of the pro-CPM Kerala State Teachers Association (KSTA) , who is also a member of the monitoring committee of the mid-day meal scheme says often the money paid as  advance for buying provisions doesn’t suffice and the school headmasters are forced to either pay from their own pockets or take loans to buy the provisions.

needed. He also finds fault with the amount the schools are supposed to spend per student under the scheme.

Currently schools with more than 150 students are supposed to spend Rs 6 per student and those with less than 150 students, Rs 5. “Milk, egg, vegetables and other provisions have to be purchased from this amount. With the escalating prices many schools find it difficult to buy everything they need within this budget,”  he complains.

Government School Teachers Association president, J Sasi , however, says a lot of  these problems have been sorted out, but officials responsible for the scheme are not carrying out orders given by those in authority.

“The problem of early transfer of funds to schools has almost been solved and it has  been decided to raise the amount per student to Rs 6 for schools with less than 150 students. But officials have failed to implement any of this," he regrets.

When contacted,  officer in charge of mid-day meals in the Department of Public Instruction (DPI), Sudhi Kumar claimed the amount required for the scheme was directly transferred to the accounts of the schools. “In fact, the entire amount needed till October was sanctioned in June itself,” he claimed.

DPI officers also said the second instalment of  around Rs 106 crore for the period November to February  was sanctioned  on December 1. “The first instalment of the scheme for the months June to October 31 was around Rs 97 crore.  The total amount needed for the scheme  is around 345 crore for the whole year,” they added.

Next: Basheer welcomes plan in higher class

Basheer welcomes plan in higher class

Thiruvananthapuram: Former Education Minister E T Mohammed Basheer said that the idea of extending the mid-day meal scheme to the tenth standard or twelfth standard was a welcome idea provided that there were no constraints on funds.

Basheer said that one of the advantages of the programme was that it could ensure nutrient rich food to students especially those coming from backward areas and also from weaker sections like the fishing community.

The Union Government had envisaged the mid-day meal scheme as part of an effort to curb dropout rates in schools. However, it was not relevant to the state as it already had been able to contain dropout rates due to various social factors, Basheer said.

One of the reasons why the mid-day meal scheme is a success in the state is its mass participation. In many schools the programme is being initiated with the participation of the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). Moreover, in many rural areas, the people of the area also get involved in making the programme a big success.

This has surely resulted in more social commitment and had also ensured that the scheme was properly implemented, Basheer said.  It had also guaranteed that the food supplied through the scheme was of good quality and adequate quantity, Basheer said.