The mid-day meal scheme in government schools stands disrupted in some of the rural areas owing to financial restrictions and the green gram supplied through Civil Supplies Corporation was stopped.
Apart from the rice given from the Civil Supplies Corporation, the schools which have less than 100 students are given Rupees six a day for each student and institutions having more than 100 students are provided with Rupees five per student for the scheme.
Though this new scheme for providing fund for each student was introduced this year, there are allegations that the fund was not sufficient to run the programme. Kerala School Teachers Association (KSTA) state general secretary M Shajahan said that the scheme implemented last year was beneficial to the students. Though the mid-day meal scheme was not for senior secondary students, they too were benefited in most of the schools by sharing the common dish with the students.
“Those institutions having active Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs) are able to mobilise funds to implement the scheme. However, those schools in the rural areas are finding it hard to meet both ends,’’ he said.
However, Education Minister Abdu Rabb was of the view that the newly-introduced scheme was more beneficial to the the students as they could have different dishes each day. The Minister said that vegetables could be purchased by the PTA and headmasters on a daily basis to provide a variety of dishes to the students.
“The supply of green gram was stopped to enable the students to have vegetable dishes. The Agriculture Department had already started vegetable cultivation in schools which can also be used for the mid-day meal scheme,” Abdu Rabb said.
Shajahan alleged that the students were not given protein-rich food as studies had pointed out that there was deficiency in protein in about 20 per cent of students. There are also no kitchen facilities in most of the schools, he said. The Minister pointed out that the PTAs could utilise the development fund of MLAs and MPs of their region for improving facilities in schools.
The coordination of people’s representatives and schools was successful in several areas where the school authorities and the PTA had taken up the initiative.
There is an option for the participation of local bodies too in the scheme. This can also enable the students to have breakfast and even snacks during evening.
Referring to the price rise of essential commodities, the Minister said that the scheme was introduced only recently.
Considering the prices of commodities, the amount given to schools will be increased, if needed, he added.
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