Kolkata: Different district administrations in West Bengal, following the instructions from the state secretariat of Nabanna, have decided to conduct surprise checks at various state-run schools in the respective districts to verify whether the actual numbers of students in those schools match the number of students enrolled in the midday meal portal.
“In case it comes to the notice of the administration that any school authority had shown inflated students’ numbers in the mid-day portal, the concerned school authority, including the headmaster or headmistress, will be first served with a show-cause notice. In the absence of a satisfactory answer, disciplinary actions as per legal provisions will be initiated against the school authority concerned,” said a state secretariat insider.
It is learnt that the decision to conduct these surprise checks has been taken following complaints that some school authorities for a long time have been showing an inflated number of students in the midday meal portal. “Already, the authorities of some state-run schools in certain districts have been identified guilty on this count, and disciplinary action has been initiated against them,” the state secretariat insider said.
According to him, one particular state-run school under Patashpur-1 block in East Midnapore district has been identified where the number of students shown in the midday meal portal was almost ten times the actual number.
“On receiving complaints on this count, the block development officer concerned, on his own, conducted a surprise check at that school, and detected such a mismatch between the actual number of students and the number shown in the midday meal portal. The headmaster of that school has been served with a show-cause notice and disciplinary action has been initiated against him,” the state secretariat insider said.
During the previous Trinamool Congress regime in West Bengal, there have been several complaints of gross irregularities in the implementation of the midday meal project. To recall, a joint review committee of the Union Education Ministry had earlier accused the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government of overreporting midday meal beneficiaries between April and September of 2022, which led to an estimated financial discrepancy of over Rs 100 crore.
Apart from that, the previous dispensation had often been accused of compromised food standards, with students in some state-run schools being served with only rice and salt. “The new dispensation is determined to bring an end to such anomalies in this scheme and take all necessary actions on this count,” the state secretariat insider said.
--IANS
