Centre seeks reports from Bihar, MP over ‘artificial, low’ midday meal coverage
In case of Bihar, PAB observed that the coverage of students at primary and upper primary level was “very low” at 57% and 58%, respectively in 2022-23.
The Centre has asked Bihar and Madhya Pradesh governments to take corrective measures over the low midday meal coverage in the two states last year and submit action taken reports by September, officials familiar with the matter said on Friday.
The issue was flagged during the meetings held between the project approval board (PAB) of the PM Poshan (Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman) scheme, or the midday meal scheme, under the Union ministry of education, and Madhya Pradesh government on May 15 and with Bihar government on May 16, the officials said.
According to minutes of the meetings held with both states, seen by HT, while the board said that the mid-day meal coverage data submitted by Madhya Pradesh for 2022-23 looks “artificial”, it also noted that the coverage in Bihar remained “very low” for the same period.
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In case of Madhya Pradesh, the PAB observed that the state government covered 68.78% of the enrolled students at primary (Classes 1 to 5) and 68.86% at upper primary (Classes 6 to 8) level in 2022-23.
It noticed that at least 22 districts at primary level and 21 districts at upper primary level showed the same percentage of coverage i.e 65%, the minutes stated.
As per the minutes, secretary department of school education and literacy, Union ministry of education, Sanjay Kumar raised concerns over so many districts reporting the same coverage and said that it “looks artificial and improbable”. The PAB advised the state to take up special measures to increase the coverage and sought an action taken report by September, the minutes added.
HT on Tuesday reported that the PAB termed the mid-day meal coverage figures provided by Kerala education department for 2022-23 as “highly improbable” and decided to send a joint team to ascertain the authenticity of coverage.
In case of Bihar, PAB observed that the coverage of students at primary and upper primary level was “very low” at 57% and 58%, respectively, against the enrolment in 2022-23.
The secretary observed that the coverage of students was less than the state average in at least seven Bihar districts, including Patna (55%), Nalanda (55%), Vaishali (46%), Siwan (49%), Nalanda (43%), Darbhanga (29%), and Kishanganj (25%), the minutes stated.
Read: Centre to send team to review mid-day meal scheme implementation in West Bengal
The secretary said “an action taken report may be submitted by September 2023” and asked the state to “put in place some system to cover more number of students against enrolment”, according to the minutes.
Reacting to the development, a senior officer in the Bihar education department said that the daily attendance in government schools has never been abnormally low. “The average attendance in government schools has been traditionally hovering around 55% to 60%. We get allotments as per the average attendance from the Centre,” said the officer, requesting anonymity.
Dhananjay Pratap Singh, secretary of MP panchayat and rural development department, which deals with distribution of mid-day meals, said, “The distribution took place as per the data provided by school education department so there is less chance of any irregularity but we are looking into the matter.”
(Inputs from Shruti Tomar and Anirban Guha Roy)