A report by India’s top auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has revealed that more than 50,000 children in Punjab’s 32 schools weren’t served meals.
Government and government-aided schools are provided funds under the centrally sponsored Mid-day meal scheme to promote enrolment of students in schools.
The audit report found that 50,417 students were deprived of the benefits of the scheme in 32 schools of Amritsar and Ludhiana.
The report pointed out that the state government was allocated Rs. 810.82 crore for implementation of the scheme and only Rs.734.28 crore was utilised during 2010-2015.
The report mentioned that the money allocated for Mid Day Meal Scheme was diverted for other expenses, such as salary, transport and other expenditure.
Pointing to a glaring contravention of the rules, the report highlighted an amount of Rs. 41 Lakh ($82,000) that was utilised for renovation and rent of the Punjab School Education Board building during 2012-14.
CAG also observed that no record or register was maintained at the school/block/ district level to ensure minimum calorific and protein contents in the cooked meals to be served to children.
Moreover, the results of food samples tested in an authorised laboratory between August 2013 and January 2015 showed that NGOs were not providing nutrients to 1,41,523 children as per norms.
As per guidelines, cooked meals are to be provided with 450 and 700 calories and 12 gm and 20 gm protein contents for primary and upper primary school children respectively.
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