The draft of the new National Education Policy also recommends expanding the scheme to provide breakfast to the children along with the midday meal. (Shankar Mourya/Hindustan Times via Getty Images) In the aftermath of the recent controversy which broke out in Uttar Pradesh over schoolchildren being served rice with salt for their mid-day meals in Mirzapur district, the state government has decided to seek the collaboration of Lucknow University, IIM Lucknow and Govind Ballabh Pant Social Science Institute to carry out audits on mid-day meals served in schools, reports The Times of India.
Apart from these institutes, other agencies have also been engaged to help the government in the auditing process. Currently, there are numerous problems with the timely disbursal of funds and the correct quantum of supply of ingredients to schools.
As per the present system, there is a Mid-Day Meal Authority in the state which releases funds to basic shiksha adhikaris (BSA). The audits should help the government identify where possible leakages in disbursal of funds and ingredients are taking place, and then correct the same so that in the future authorities are able to release funds in a quicker manner.
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