Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Meal scheme interruption decried

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh Mahila Samakhya has demanded that officials of the Civil Supplies department take steps to secure the allocated quota of rice from the Central government to ensure that the mid-day meals scheme to students is not interrupted.

The Samakhya expressed concern that the scheme was stopped in several schools as the Civil Supplies department could not supply the required quantum of rice. Supply in June, for instance, was about 5,000 tonnes as against the requirement of 8,750 tonnes for the 15-day period after schools reopened. Samakhya president Pasya Padma said, in a statement, that though the scheme was being implemented in some schools with the help of sarpanches, it came to a grinding halt in hundreds of others leading to starvation of students. The crisis facing the scheme reflected the “utter failure” of the officials concerned in planning the effective implementation.

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