Move to address deficiencies in midday meal implementation
SHILLONG: The State Education Department has decided to utilize the service of a nutritional expert in who will prescribe the hygiene parameters to be adopted while implementing the Centrally-sponsored midday meal scheme in Meghalaya.
The report of the 5th Joint Review Mission of the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development, while was prepared after spot inspection from November 22-30, 2013, has questioned the nutritional status of the food being provided to the students in Meghalaya under the midday meal scheme.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Additional Secretary of Education Department, Akash Deep, admitted that the State has been found lacking vis-à-vis the nutritional and hygiene status of the food provided to the students, but asserted that the State Government has initiated several steps to address the concerns.
“We have trained hundreds of cooks on different aspects of cooking,” Akash Deep said, adding that directives have been issued to the cooks like washing their hands and taking bath on a daily basis before cooking food for the school children.
Stating that the teachers of the schools have to first taste the food before it is served to the students, he informed that the Education department recently held discussions with all deputy commissioners and sub-divisional officers and stressed on the need to maintain hygiene standards while implementing the scheme in their respective districts.
A total of 10612 schools in Meghalaya are covered under the Centrally-sponsored scheme including 7613 LP schools and over 3000 UP schools, with a total number of 5.3 lakh students being provided with meals.
Incidentally, the Joint Review Mission report has found glaring deficiencies with regards to implementation of the schemes in most of the visited schools in the State. The report revealed that the scheme was being irregularly implemented in most schools in the State and proper administrative structure for implementation of the scheme was yet to be set up. Most of the visited schools were found wanting in maintenance of proper records while in some cases false records were being maintained.
The report also highlighted the lack of micro nutrients in the meals provided to the students in the State.
Reacting to a query about the lack of regular inspection in the schools, Akash Deep admitted that the department has not been able to conduct regular inspections due to shortage of staffs.
He also asserted that the department is going to set up an online monitoring system through Interactive Voice Response System through which data would be acquired on a daily basis like how many students attended the school on a particular day and how many students were provided food under the midday meal scheme.