NEW DELHI, June 25: The Centre has taken a serious note of the diversion of rice meant for children, pregnant women and adolescent girls in Meghalaya under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) of the Ministry of Social Welfare.
Diversion of such a huge quantity of rice during the ongoing pandemic has alarmed the Ministry in a state where the BJP is a constituent of the NPP-led alliance government. The state unit of the BJP had expressed concern over the “scam” and demanded the arrest of the culprits while the MDA government had gone on the defensive.
Ministry officials are surprised that no one has been arrested for the alleged scam.
On June 1, the police in Assam’s Boko seized an estimated 1 lakh rice bags weighing 50 kg each from a godown belonging to the Maruti Quality Food Ltd, whose proprietor is said to be absconding.
It is believed that the rice bags provided by the Centre at a subsidised rate landed up in a private storehouse for repackaged and sold to third parties.
Social Welfare Ministry insiders wondered how officials in Meghalaya claimed the rice for the past one year had been utilised when the state’s schools were closed. The state government might have to show utilisation certificates if the students have indeed received fortified foods at home, they said.
The Ministry officials are also trying to find out how the rice was distributed through Anganwadi centres as required under the guidelines. Most Anganwadi centres in Meghalaya have been closed since June 2020 due to the pandemic.
The Ministry is implementing the SNP programme under the umbrella Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme for children (aged 6 months to 6 years), pregnant women, lactating mothers and out-of-school adolescent girls (11-14 years) to improve the nutritional status of women and children.
The scheme in Meghalaya is being implemented through a network of Anganwadi workers under the ICDS and in urban areas through NGOs with 300 feeding days a year.
