Midday meal
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 26 2020: The Centre has not released the final instalment of funds under the midday meal scheme as the authority concerned is not able to produce the utilisation certificate of around Rs 10 crore sanctioned earlier, said sources.

According to the sources at the Education(s) Department, the Centre had released the fund of about Rs 10 crore for implementation of the midday meal scheme.

The fund includes money for procuring rice, pulses, books for children and honoraria of the cooks who prepare meals at schools.

The COVID-19 pandemic has closed all schools and as such the children are provided uncooked food, raw materials, rice, pulses etc.

Even though the cooks are not working at present due to COVID-19, the funds released by the Centre include their honoraria.

However, the cooks have not been paid their honoraria since April, the sources said.

The Centre releases the fund for the scheme to the State account and the Finance Department distributes the funds to the Deputy Commissioners for further distribution to the schools in the districts.

However, the authority concerned is not able produce the utilisation certificate of the funds used from July to November.

The Centre on the other hand has pressured the authorities to show the utilisation certificate for further release of the funds.

In addition to this, the State Government has not yet released its share of Rs 1.5 crore, said the sources.

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