Rice supply for Mid Day Meal not at par
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, May 22 2011: Authority implementing the Mid-day Meal scheme in the state allegedly deducts rice from the actual quantity to be supplied to schools for preparation of food items for students.

The reduced supply of rice was detected in the Imphal East Zonal Education office, Zone-II at Porompat.

Authority of this office started supply of rice to around 324 schools under it from May 5 for preparation of food items for over 30,036 students.

The supply was made through the headmasters of schools under ZEO Zone-II.

On the first day, the supply was made to the schools located within Andro, Keirao, Thongju and Wangkhei A/Cs while distributions for schools located at Heingang, Khurai, Lamlai, Khundrakpam and Keshtrigao A/Cs was made on the next day on May 6.For those headmasters who could not avail the item on these days distribution was made on May 7 .

However, a deduction of rice at the rate of 10 to 20 kgs from each 50 kg bag of rice was found, according to some teachers who procured the rice from the office.

A headmaster, on the condition of anonymity, said that some of the rice bags which the authority distributed to them as being 50 kg each were found weighing 30 to 40 kgs only.

Some teachers got rice bags weighing only 30 kg while some others were 40 kg.

They have been getting under weighed rice for a long time and whenever they inquired about it, officials asked them not to inquire informing that it was deducted by undergrounds.

At the time of receiving the rice, they are asked to sign as receiving the exact quantity which they are to get each month, he added.

As per rules of the Mid-day Meal scheme, a school has to supply prepared food for at least 20 days a month but the target could not be met as they could not get rice regularly.

At some point of time, the supply was made for three to four months together, he went on to reveal.

Owing to the irregularity in the supply of rice, cooks appointed for preparation of food got their monthly honorariums without discharging their duties.

Even though, food was not supplied to the students, the cooks received the amount sanctioned for buying firewood and other food items, which is ' 50 a day.

Local MLAs sometimes intervened in appointing cooks to the schools, another headmaster disclosed.

When Hueiyen Lanpao asked an official of the ZEO office, he said that the rice under the scheme is being supplied to the schools after submitting indents to the DC concerned who in turn furnish them to the FCI authority.

They do not measure the weight of each rice bag at the time of offloading at the ZEO godown.

In some instances, each bag weighed less than 50 kg due to rupture of gunny bags.

There is no question of deducting rice by the officials of the ZEO, he said alleging that the teachers often lodged complaints after they had siphoned off the rice before depositing it at their schools.

Apart from this, most headmasters are not sincere to put up the exact number of students in their respective schools.

For example, when only around 20 students were enrolled in some schools, they put the number students over 100 in order to get more rice.

Besides this, most of the headmasters do not maintain the stock of the rice left over each month even though the left over rice which resulted from the absence of students are to be kept in their stock and to submit a detail report to the ZEO, the official added.

Comment