Srikakulam: Agencies struggle to implement midday meal scheme

Srikakulam: Implementing the midday meals scheme at government schools has turned into a difficult task to agencies in the wake of hike in prices for all essential commodities.

At present the State government is paying Rs 8.57 per student for high schools (from class-VI to X) and Rs 5.88 per student for elementary schools (from class-I to V) per day for providing midday meals. Salaries of the staff of the midday meal agencies are also being adjusted from the money allocated by the government and there is no separate fund for salaries.

At present prices of all essentials are increasing with each passing day and the government has directed the agencies to provide different varieties of food items every day as per the fixed menu from Monday to Saturday. As per the menu schedule, the food items served on Monday include hot pongal with vegetable palav, egg curry and groundnut chikki, Tuesday tamarind or lemon rice with chutney and boiled egg, Wednesday vegetable rice with potato curry, egg curry and groundnut chikki, Thursday sambar rice with boiled egg, Friday white rice with leafy vegetable curry mixed with dal, boiled egg and groundnut chikki and on Saturday white rice with leafy vegetable curry, sambar and sweet pongal.

In Srikakulam district there are 357 midday meal agencies to provide meals to the government schools students every day. With rise in prices, the price of each egg has gone up to Rs 6, kg of onions Rs 20, red gram dal Rs 140, one kg groundnuts Rs 115, one kg tamarind Rs 60, chilli powder Rs 220, turmeric powder Rs 180, oil Rs 180 per litre, vegetables prices per kg - Rs 40 each for beans, cabbage and potato, Rs 50 for carrot, angular gourds, gherkins, Rs 45 for brinjal and guor beans.

"With present market prices providing midday meals to students as per the fixed menu is difficult for us and we have been demanding that the government pay an additional amount of Rs 15 per student irrespective of their classes," Midday Meal Agencies Workers' Union district president K Nagamani said while speaking to The Hans India.

In the wake of meagre fund allocation by the State government, workers of midday meal agencies are being paid only Rs 3,000 as monthly salary which is not at all sufficient, she added.

"We have been forwarding demands of midday meal agencies for enhancement of allocation of funds per student to the government through the District Collector regularly but at present we are receiving funds as per the old schedule," said District Educational Officer (DEO) Gara Pagadalamma and Samagra Siksha project coordinator Ronanki Jayaprakash.