Thiruvananthapuram: The midday meal scheme is facing a crisis in several public schools in Kerala after government funds dried up since March this year. In fact, the government has yet to sanction the money for March, the last month of the previous academic year, as well as June, the first month of the current academic year.
Incidentally, the government regularly causes a delay in releasing the funds for the scheme, forcing school authorities to buy the necessary items to prepare the meals on credit. With the dues for March yet to be paid, traders in several places are denying sales on credit to schools. As a result, school authorities are now compelled to borrow money from teachers as well as outsiders to meet the expenses. According to some teachers, they had even withdrawn money from their provident fund accounts to pay back lenders.
"Officers at the Education Department repeat the statement that government funds will be sanctioned soon, but it has not happened so far," said a teacher.
The state government has fixed a meagre amount of Rs 8 for each child as funds for the midday meal scheme in schools with up to 150 students. In schools with more students, the amount is Rs 6 for each student. The money includes a 60 percent contribution from the Central Government.
The rice to prepare the meal is supplied free of charge by SupplyCo. However, money has to be found by school authorities to serve two to three curries every day and milk and eggs once a week. The cost of fuel also has to be met by the school. With government funds inadequate to meet these expenses, many schools conduct the scheme with items donated by kind-hearted people residing in the locality and vegetables grown by teachers and students at their houses.
Meanwhile, officials at the Education Department said that they had sent a recommendation to the Finance Department to increase the allotment for the scheme.