DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 19 (MExN): The Nagaland Public Rights Awareness and Action Forum (NPRAAF) today issued a statement in response to the Principal Director of School Education seeking evidence regarding an alleged “nexus of Government officials and politicians” in the Mid-Day Meal scheme which was pointed out by the former.
A press release from the NPRAAF information and publicity wing said that it would make “more sensitive disclosures as confessed by the contractor” in the Court of law as and when the matter comes up before the law. The NPRAAF also stated that it would pursue the matter legally, adding that disclosures would then be made “as to how much Rupees per Quintal is paid to various organisations in more detail.”
It meanwhile said that the department’s disclosure that annual sanction of food grains allocated by center is 4076.590 metric ton (MT) is more than the figure given by the NPRAAF.
Given the excess foodgrains, the forum questioned “why the department fails to regularly implement the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in schools.”
The department had earlier informed that the unspent balance of food grain is subsequently adjusted during the next allocation as normal practice.
To this, the NPRAAF asked “why year after year adjustment over adjustment is made, hoodwinking the center” and further questioned whether the department “shows inflated number of students to Delhi to receive even more food grain to make further adjustment the next year.”
“When the actual requirement of the school children as per entitlement is 100 gm per child per day in primary, 150 gm per child per day in upper primary, it is absolutely scandalous to demand and receive 10 lakh kg or 80,000 eighty thousand bags (50 kg bag) of food grain from the Government of India to feed even the poor children in schools regularly except on holidays as per the rules,” the NPRAAF said.
It further informed that the state received over 5000 MT which means the Department received about 12,5000 Kg of rice or 1 lakh bag of rice (in 50 kg bag) or more in the past every year. The forum further said that allocation received by NCLP or NGOs is meager to this day.
It also stated that as per the contractor, the exact enrollment of student was 1,06,298 as against the figure shown in the official documents submitted to Delhi.
The NPRAAF meanwhile clarified that in its earlier press release, there was a “typing error” regarding the grades of students entitled to the meals.
