Wayanad: The severe fund crunch that has taken a toll on the mid-day meal scheme at public schools has forced teachers’ organisations, irrespective of their political affiliations, to launch a series of agitations against the government.

The head teachers of schools in Kerala are yet to receive Rs 130 crore that they have spent on running the noon-meal scheme for students for the past three months. Of this, Rs 80 crore is the Centre’s share, while the State has to pay Rs 50 crore. The teachers’ organisations allege the state government's failure to furnish the details of the total number of students benefiting from the scheme on time was the reason for the delay in Central funding.

They say that schools will have to stop the mid-day meals scheme if the state does not disburse the arrears.
 

Arrears, revised rates and additional funds

The prominent teachers’ organisations to launch protests include Congress-affiliated Kerala Primary School Teachers’ Association (KPSTA), CPM-affiliated Kerala School Teachers’ Association (KSTA), the pro-UDF United Teachers and Employees Federation (UTEF), All Kerala School Teachers Union (AKSTU) and the Kerala Government Primary School Headmasters’ Association (KGPSHA),  the trade union of headmasters.

Major demands include disbursal of the three-month arrears, revision of the eight-year-old rate fixed for the scheme in tune with the changing cost of ingredients, and additional funds for the ‘nutritious food scheme' of the state government which includes milk (300 ml) and one egg once a week. They have also asked the government to meet the transport and cooking gas costs.

According to KPSTA state secretary Gireesh Kumar, all the schools are facing acute crisis due to the lackadaisical attitude of the state government in resolving the issue. “Almost all head teachers are in deep financial crisis due to the arrears,” he said.

“The state government is not even considering a revision in the rates for meals, which was fixed in 2016 when the prices of inputs were much lower. The current rate is Rs 8 per meal up to 150 students, Rs 7 per meal from 151 to 500 students, and Rs 6 per meal from 500 students and above,” he said.

According to Kerala Government Primary School Headmasters' Association (KGPSHA) state president Yeldho K V, the inclusion of milk and egg in the mid-day meal scheme has made it increasingly difficult to keep the rates within budget.

“Every student is allotted Rs 40 per week. Each week a student is given 300 ml of milk (Rs 16.80) and one egg (Rs 6) which alone costs Rs 22.80 per week. This leaves us with Rs 17.20 per child for the rest of the week. Though the rice is free, how does the government expect the head teacher to manage things smoothly with this amount,” Yeldho asked.

Protests

The KPSTA will launch a three-day agitation in front of the state secretariat on September 13 and carry out a one-day protest march to the education minister's office on September 16. In addition, the United Teachers and Employees’ Federation, an umbrella organisation of pro-UDF teachers’ unions would organise a combined agitation in front of the state secretariat on September 12.

The Kerala School Teachers’ Association, a pro-CPM teachers’ union has decided to organize an agitation over the ‘mid-day meal crisis’ on September 15.
 

Court directions to no avail

Though the teachers’ organisations have moved the High Court, the state government is yet to respect the court's directions, they say.