Among flops and failures of various schemes, especially the ones floated by the Central Government, one very significant scheme is of Mid-Day meal for the students of Government Schools in the State. The Union Government launched this scheme way back in 1995. It committed 90 per cent of expenditure as its contribution while the State Government was supposed to take care of the remaining ten per cent. The meals were meant for the students up to eighth class in Government schools. The rationale behind sponsoring the scheme was twofold. One was to provide at least one nutritious meal to the students of young age and especially from economically weaker sections. The second purpose was to encourage other children, especially from poorer sections of people, to go to Government run schools, and sponsor themselves for the Mid-Day Meals as an incentive for removing illiteracy among the people in general but those in the rural areas in particular.
The sponsors at the Union Ministry of HRD drew comprehensive details of the scheme and conveyed the same to all States including J&K as the guidelines that formed the roadmap for successful implementation of the scheme. Those States, which implemented the scheme in right earnest, showed remarkable progress in utilizing the facility provided by the Union Ministry. However, our State and its Education Department made a mess of the entire scheme, essentially because of a variety of reasons. The State failed to provide utilization certificates for the last financial year. The Ministry of HRD suspended release of the installment of arrears for want of a utilization certificates. The teachers put in charge of the scheme-borrowed money from school funds and the shopkeepers on the understanding that as soon as the Government releases funds borrowings would be paid back by the schools concerned. The Government did not release the money because the Department did not provide the utilization money. Funding dried up and suspension of Mid-Day Meals in Government run schools of the State was the logical conclusion. Notwithstanding the recent release of an ad-hoc installment of more than Rs 10 crore for Mid-Day meal purpose and payment to Food Corporation of India (FCI), liabilities of more than Rs 33 crore computed since September last are still pending. Apart from non-submission of utilization certificates, the previous State Government did not even release the remaining ten per cent of the expenditure, which it had agreed to pay as stipulated in the terms of reference.
This shows utter disregard of the State Government towards the welfare of economically weaker sections of our society. We know that generally children from weaker sections of society seek admission in Government schools because these schools charge minimum fees and other expenditures. Wards of well-to-do families go to prestigious schools where they receive better education and other facilities. Depriving poorer students of the facility of a mid-day meal indicates little concern for the weaker sections of society. This is the reversal of the loud claims of the Government that ours is a welfare state and the Government takes care of weaker sections. Failure of Mid-Day Meals scheme in most parts of the State is a reflection on the efficiency of the concerned authorities and the good governance. The remedy lies in Government clearing the arrears in full and adopting a new mechanism that will ensure proper implementation of the scheme. The State Government will need to cut down very complicated procedure for the funds to reach the hands of end users. At present the Ministry of HRD releases funds to the State Government; these go to State Finance Department, which passes them on to Education Department for further distribution at Directorate level, then CEO level and finally at ZEO level with the result that it takes months for the money to reach at ground level. This tortuous journey of the funds must be cut down if we want to reduce delay and streamline the entire scheme.
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