LPG shortage forces schools to halt mid-day meal services in Gurdaspur

The mid-day meal scheme, mandatory for primary and middle classes in government schools, has gone for a toss following the shortage of LPG cylinders. This development, teachers fear, is leading to students dropping out of schools.

It is a known fact that a majority of students studying in government schools belong to the poor and lower-middle class strata of society. The meal is the primary reason for school attendance. It is seen as a powerful incentive for families to send children, particularly girls, to school rather than keeping them at home. There are more than 50,000 workers in the state out of which 5,200 have been asked to reach Ludhiana on March 22 to lodge a protest.

The mid-day meal society has written to all District Education Officers (Secondary and Elementary) to make alternative arrangements. “We have to scout for firewood and cow-dung cakes as alternative arrangements. With the entire state having intermittent rainfall, finding firewood has become difficult. Cow-dung cakes, which act as a fuel for burning the traditional ‘chullah’, too, are not available.

“Under these circumstances, we are unable to feed the students. Even we are asked to shell out money for the firewood notwithstanding the fact that we are paid a meagre Rs 3,000 per month. Even if we manage to bring in alternative fuel, the cooking cost rises manifold. Who will pay the extra amount?” asked Gurpreet Kaur Kahali, president of the Gurdaspur unit Democratic Mid-Day Meal Workers’ Union.

The cooking cost for students studying in primary schools is Rs 6.78 per student per day while it is over Rs 10 for children studying in middle schools. This rises significantly if alternative measures are taken. Teachers fear that the drop-out rate may increase further if there is no improvement in the situation. Balwinder Kaur, a spokesperson for the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) said, “The scheme is a crucial factor in reducing dropout rates in India. Disruptions in this service are posing a direct threat to student attendance particularly among economically vulnerable households.”