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| J&K failed to meet Mid-day meal targets | | Report for financial year 2010-11 | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, June 1: Despite intense efforts of Jammu and Kashmir state education department, implementing agencies on ground have failed to meet Mid-day meal targets for the financial year 2010-11.
Mid-day meal approval board had sanctioned funds for covering 106000 children under the scheme, of which 750000 were to be covered in Primary Classes and 310000 in upper primary. Against this target, 167970 children i.e. around 16 percent children failed to avail benefits of this scheme. Of the 84 percent children covered under the scheme, utilization certificates are yet to be submitted in most of the cases.
In the financial year 2010-11, J&K had to ensure 196 working days in the schools being covered under the scheme. But there were only 152 working days i.e. 44 short of the target. Ministry of Human Resource Development has noted with concern these shortcomings and asked Jammu and Kashmir education department especially the ground staff to improve achievement rate.
The schools where the Mid-day meal scheme is being implemented had to serve twenty crore seventy seven lakh sixty thousand (20, 7760000) meals but they could serve just thirteen crore seven lakh twenty seven thousand (130727814). Schools fell short of seven crore seventy lakh thirty two thousand one hundred eighty six (77032186) meals i.e. 37 percent less than what was PAB's target.
13,681 primary schools and 8746 upper primary schools are serving mid-day meals. However, in these schools against the allocation of 26731 metric tonnes of food grains, J&K could utilize only 15160.21 metric tonnes i.e. 57 percent of the total allocation. In other words, 43 percent food grains remained unutilized at the end of year 2010-11.
43 percent cooking assistance also remained unutilized. In terms of sanctioned cost of Rs. 7186.96 lakh, state could utilize Rs. 4075.97 lakh. J&K paid 61 percent honorarium to cooks-cum-helpers. These figures are part of the report of Project Approval Board (PAB) for Mid-day meal scheme, a copy of which is exclusively with Early Times. Not only this, the PAB report has pointed out lapses in the implementation of scheme.
Report has brought to the fore inability of Jammu and Kashmir education department to submit utilization certificates. It has said that movement registers are not maintained properly, payments are made through cash; registers are not maintained properly while grants are used for purposes other then the implementation of Mid-day meal scheme.
The board has suggested an innovation of asking a separate agency to serve Mid-day meal and not by school it self. Further, it has called for making regular staff and infrastructure available which presently is too inadequate to implement the programme smoothly. It has stressed that main objective among others should be to attract those out of school children who do not get meal. |
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