Hyderabad, June 14: With the mid-day meal programme frequently landing in controversy in the past few years — whether due to lack of facilities or funds, or over the question of quality — the State Government is making efforts to ensure that students are not put to trouble this academic year.
Apart from releasing funds in advance to meet expenses for the next three months, special officers are being appointed to supervise implementation of the programme.
About 75 lakh schoolchildren in government and aided schools in the State will benefit from the scheme this year. The State government has decided to revise the food menu for children in Classes VI to X to provide greater quantity and improved quality of food.
While students studying in primary classes will be given 100 gm of foodgrain, 20 gm of pulses, 50 gm of vegetables and 5 gm of oil, those from the upper primary sections will get 150 gm of foodgrain, 30 gm of pulses, 75 gm of vegetables and 7.5 gm of oil.
While the Centre recently released Rs 132 crore towards its share, the State has pooled in Rs 125 crore for the first two quarters.
But with the Centre hiking its share of average expenditure per head from Rs 1.58 to Rs 2.02 in line with its recommendation of increased quantity for upper primary classes, the State Government has no immediate plans to hike its share.
The of ficials said the State government had been allotting Rs 1.67 per head though only Rs 0.67 per head were required as per the Centre’s recommendation.
They said all outstanding amounts of the implementing agencies (self-help groups and other non-governmental organisations) were being cleared.
Speaking to TNIE, Secondary Education Minister D Manikya Vara Prasada Rao said the government would appoint a special officer for foolproof implementation of the mid-day meal programme. Further, Rs 1,000 will allotted to each implementing agency supplying food to 25 children in a school. “Another Rs 1,000 will be sanctioned if there are more than 25 children.
We have already released the funds required for implementation of the scheme in the next three months,” said Manikya Vara Prasada Rao. However, it would take some time to appoint the special officer responsible for quality maintenance.
Chief Minister K Rosaiah recently directed the officials to create infrastructure in all government schools where there is lack of facilities. The funds will be met from RIDF, NABARD and Sarva Siskha Abhiyan.
Due care had been taken to improve infrastructure to serve mid-day meals in hyg i e n i c conditions in schools, the officials said, and added that adequate number of utensils would be provided to schools facing shortage.
–Agencies