Budget stuck, schools in Himachal find it tough to run midday meal scheme

Subhash Rajta

Shimla, September 25

Schools are facing difficulty in running the midday meal scheme as the budget for it has not been released for the past five months. “If the budget for the scheme is not released by the end of this month, it will be difficult to keep this scheme running in schools. The government and the department will be responsible for any such situation,” said Narayan Sharma, vice-president of the Primary Teachers Federation.

Must get money by month-end

If the budget for the scheme is not released by the end of this month, it will be difficult to keep this scheme running. The government and the department will be responsible for any such situation. Narayan Sharma, Vice-president of teachers’ body

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Accepting that the budget for the scheme could not be released for the past few months, nodal officer for the scheme Naresh Sharma said the delay was caused as the Centre had been changing the system of disbursement of funds for the scheme.

“The Centre has introduced the Public Finance Management System for the disbursement of funds. The modalities are almost over and hopefully the budget will be released in a few days,” Sharma said. The Centre provides 90 per cent budget for the scheme, while the state chips in with the remaining 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Primary Teachers Federation says the shopkeepers are refusing to give food items on credit now, making it difficult for the schools to continue offering midday meals to the students. Under the scheme, students up to Class VIII get midday meals in all government schools of the state.

“The cooks employed for the scheme have also not got their salaries for the past four-five months. They get Rs 4,000 per month. If they do not get that amount in time, how are they going to feed their families?” Sharma said.

The nodal officer, meanwhile, said several states were facing delay in getting grants from the Centre due to a change in the payment system. “A few states have already received the grant, and we are likely to get it shortly,” the officer said.