Now Reading: Bengal school resumes mid-day meal after 3-day fund delay
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Bengal school resumes mid-day meal after 3-day fund delay
Boral Swamiji Vidyapith in Garia, near Kolkata, resumed its mid-day meal programme on Saturday after a three-day suspension due to delayed funds. Around 200 to 250 students depend on the scheme at…
Boral Swamiji Vidyapith in Garia, near Kolkata, resumed its mid-day meal programme on Saturday after a three-day suspension due to delayed funds. Around 200 to 250 students depend on the scheme at the school.
Headmaster Biplab Sarkar said the school had not received funds for nearly three months and had to buy provisions on credit. Outstanding dues included Rs 25,000 to a grocery shop, Rs 9,000 to an egg supplier, and Rs 12,000 to a potato supplier.
A Rajpur-Sonarpur municipality official attributed the delay to portal issues and said steps were being taken. The school education department also intervened. Students were served khichdi and egg curry on Saturday after three days without the meal.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The three-month fund gap that halted meals at a single school points to a wider strain in West Bengal's mid-day meal supply chain, where schools often depend on local credit when state allocations are held up by portal glitches or administrative lags. Under the PM POSHAN scheme, the central government releases funds to states, which then disburse them to districts and schools. Any break in that flow leaves headmasters personally liable for supplier dues. With roughly 12 crore children covered nationally, even short stoppages erode the scheme's core promise of a daily cooked meal as an incentive for attendance. The next signal to watch is whether the district clears pending payments before the next tranche is due.
The three-month fund gap that halted meals at a single school points to a wider strain in West Bengal's mid-day meal supply chain, where schools often depend on local credit when state allocations are held up by portal glitches or administrative lags.
Source: timesnownews.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
