Mid-Day Meal Scheme a dream for students in Punjab, No grant available
The mid-day meal scheme in government schools across Punjab has come to a virtual halt due to the non-availability of funds.Only 17 per cent of the total 24.85 lakh students are getting mid day meals. The food was served to only 4.18 lakh students last week. Of the total 19,881 schools in the state, the mid-day meal was cooked in 5,439, as per a report by the Mid-Day Meal Society. On Saturday, out of 45,160 beneficiary students in 416 schools in Faridkot district, only 2,545 were served food in 28 schools. In Tarn Taran, of 796 schools, the meal was cooked in 39 schools. The government has not released funds under the scheme since August, it said. Parveen Sharma, president, Punjab Mid-Day Meal Workers and Cooking Staff Union, said schoolteachers were already shouldering the burden of huge unpaid dues of groceries, vegetables and other items. “We have thus given a call to stop cooking mid-day meal in all schools,” he added. -PTC News
