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Tripura Government did not provide any mid- day meal food grains to any child
The Biplab Kumar Deb led BJP government in Tripura, has not provided food to any child under the mid-day meal scheme while the schools remained closed during the lockdown as held by Right to Information.
Due to lack of proper nutrition, the immune systems weaken, and hence, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development had directed state governments and Union Territories to make sure that children have access to their meals even if schools were closed due to COVID-19. But in Tripura, the state government did not take an initiative to provide meals to the children, however, they transferred in the accounts of students or family but a lump sum that is less than the amount prescribed of cooking under the MDM scheme.
Tripura government directed the inspector of schools to credit for a period of 30 days between March 17 and April 17, 2020, on the following lines.
- Rs 150 @ Rs 5 per day (primary school students- Class 1 to V)
- Rs 210 @ Rs 7 per day (upper primary level- Class VI-VIII)
The amount includes the cost of food grain and that of cooking both.
Centre’s mid-day meal scheme aims to provide:
- 100 grams of food grains per child, every school, every day at primary level and;
- 150 grams per child, every school, every day at upper primary level
Tripura state government allocated Rs 7.48 crore for the same.
As per the new norms, only the cooking cost per child per school day was transferred to their accounts, which comes out to be Rs 4.97 and Rs 7.45 per day at primary and upper primary levels respectively.
Therefore, the Tripura government not only failed to provide for food grains to the children but also the full cost of cooking.
The total number of students enrolled at primary and upper primary levels is 2,66,326 and 1,65,953 respectively in eight districts of the state. However, in totality, 432,379 students are enrolled in government schools and entitled to receive food under the MDM scheme.
