Schools told to ensure proper implementation of mid-day meal

In order to check anomalies in mid-day meal scheme being implemented in government primary schools, education department Punjab has issued strict instructions to the District Education Office (Elementary) to remain more vigilant and ensure if the mid-day meal being distributed amongst the students was as per thestudent strength.

The department has routinely been issuing these instructions after online complaint to the Ministry of Education, Department of School Education and Literacy, Government of India, that some schools were showing the presence of more students in their records while actually, the number of students was much less. The complaint had mentioned that as per the ‘dummy’ records, the schools were claiming more funds for the mid-day meal scheme.

Department of School Education issued directions in a letter issued on October 30, 2024 to all district education offices and school heads and instructions were passed on to the DEOs to check and take necessary action.

DEO Elementary, Kanwaljit Singh said that the department has been issuing regular instructions regarding check on mid day meal dispension. "The School Management Committees at block level have already been regularly checking schools for proper preparation and distribution of mid day meals. Any complaints or irregularities are being monitored. In Amritsar, so far, the mid day meal scheme has been running smoothly," he said.