Three SDEOs claimed to have provided Mid Day Meals 220 days a year
Dimapur, September 21 (MExN): Three Sub-Divisional Education Officers (SDEO) under Mokokchung district have reportedly claimed to have provided Mid Day Meals (MDM) on all working days, i.e., 220 days in a year for the period 2011-2012 and 2014-2015.
The claims were made by SDEOs of Mokokchung, Changtongya, and Mangkolemba in response to an RTI (NO.ED/RTI-B/2014-2015) filed by one ST Yapang Lkr.
Yapang however refuted the claims and stated that he had “found out first hand” that none of the schools provided MDM to the students for the number of days mentioned in the RTI reply furnished by concerned SDEOs.
The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal programme of the Government of India designed to improve the nutritional status of school-age children nationwide.
According to the Nagaland Directorate of School Education, “Every school going child in the primary sector on every school working day is to be provided MDM.”
However, the positive vision set by the Central Government seems to have lost its value in Nagaland. Mid Day Meals in the state are provided only once or at most, twice a week in effect, making the children go hungry for the rest of the working days, the RTI activist stated.
Pointing out that the biggest problem faced by the schools in MDM scheme is the delay in receiving supplies, Yapang questioned whether it was the state government or the central government which was responsible for the delay.
In addition to the delays, Yapang further pointed out that members of the VECs/WECs in most rural areas do not have much awareness on state or centrally sponsored schemes. This, he maintained, adds to an advantage for higher officials to manipulate schemes meant for the benefit of the students.
Towards this, Yapang advised the village councils to select those educated unemployed youths from their villages or areas to look after such schemes. This will have far more positive outcome, he maintained.
He further appealed to all the Government schools under Mokokchung district to strictly follow the guidelines of the government in implementing the MDM scheme from October 1. He also encouraged the students and parents to keep a record of the MDM provided by the schools. “If the concerned schools are not following the said guidelines then report to us at RTI Nagaland Social Media Group,” he urged (The group has a page on Facebook called RTI Nagaland).
It was further informed that by the end of next year, a thorough investigation will be carried out through RTI to know the details of MDM scheme in schools of Mokokchung district w.e.f. October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017. Therefore, the schools and management board have been asked to keep a clean record on what kind of meal they provide and to how many students they have provided. Failing to do so, “they will have to face the court of law.”
According to the RTI replies, the sanction for MDM in Mokokchung district for 2011-2012 was Rs 216.22 lakh and Rice-583.36 metric tons; Rs 236.65 lakh and Rice- 510.31 metric tons for 2012-2013; Rs 226.74 lakh and Rice- 563.21 metric tons for 2013-2014; and Rs 51.26 lakh and Rice 393.07 metric tons for 2014-2015.
Meanwhile, regarding the pre-matric scholarship for the academic year 2015, the RTI activist reminded that students who have submitted their bank account number other than SBI are yet to receive their scholarship. If the issue is not resolved by the end of this month, the RTI Nagaland Social Media Group will take up the matter and necessary actions will be taken, it was stated.
