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| Food supplies stopped to all Anganwari Centres in Kashmir, payments continue | | | Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Jan 3: Department of Social Welfare has, as usual, stopped nutritional food supplies to all Anganwari centres in all the ten districts of Kashmir valley from December 1. Consequently, thousands of Anganwadi centres have been completely deserted by their staff and the young pupils have been enjoying the winter at their homes.
Sources in the State administration insisted that stoppage of the ration quota supplies in the autumn and winter months, October through March, was a "regular feature" in all Child Development Projects in Kashmir, every year. However, what is intriguing in the whole story is that the CDPOs have been claiming full consumption of all the ration supplies for all the hundreds of thousands of young children registered with the AWCs.
"In many cases, even the number of the beneficiary children has been shown as double or triple the actual. Bills are being drawn continuously at the local treasuries in the name of the children who never visit an Anganwadi centre from October to March", said an insider. "Otherwise too, during the six months of spring and summer it has been a routine to claim supplies for inflated and exaggerated numbers and quantities. This correspondent observed that the 100-odd AWCs in Baramulla, Ganderbal, Budgam and Srinagar districts had been permanently sealed by the Supervisors.
"It's a known fact that the schools and colleges remain shut for about three months of winter in Kashmir. Only the clerks attend their duties on rotation basis. Who will expect young children of two to six years of age to be present at AWCs for taking a cup of moong dal or two pieces of biscuit? This scheme is 100% fraud. One fails to understand why the Vigilance Organisation, Crime Branch and CAG have never taken action against the officers who plunder the State exchequer of hundreds of Crores of Rupees on account of nutritional supplies to thousands of Anganwadi centres in Kashmir each year", an official of the same department admitted.
"The money swindled on fake and forged claims is shared between the officers of Social Welfare Department and concerned Deputy Commissioners who function as Chairman of the supplies purchasing committee. Particular shares of the ill-gotten money go to Directorate and even to the Secretariat. The suppliers, who pool the quotation and share the districts, take care of all the concerned", said another official. |
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