KMC school students to go without mid-day meal

Kolkata, April 02 The mid-day meal scheme in the primary schools of Kolkata Municipal Corporation has run into a roadblock. And the worst sufferers are the students of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Primary (KMCP) schools, located in Garden Reach area, who have not received their share of mid-day meals for three months. Out of 23 KMCP schools in the area, the students of at least ten schools have been deprived of the mid-day meal, which usually includes khichdi or rice, dal and nutrela.

A team comprising senior officials of the Civic Body’s Education Department visited the 23 schools of Garden Reach this afternoon to find out the reason behind this. A meeting is supposed to take place on April 5, in KMC headquarters to discuss the civic body’s failure in providing the mid-day meals.

The reason given by the civic body for its failure to provide cooked meal to these children is the shortage of space and proper infrastructure in the rented school buildings.

Because of the dilapidated condition of the school buildings, Indian Oil Corporation and Hindustan Petroleum have stopped issuing permission for supplying gas cylinders to these schools and KMCP is having a hard time in procuring gas cylinders.

The dropout percentage in KMCP schools located in the Northern and Southern parts of the city has increased in the past three years. The situation is just the opposite in the minority-dominated area of Garden Reach.

Here, the number of local children attending the KMCP schools is quite encouraging. The strength of the students in each of the KMCP School is over 300. One of the biggest KMCP schools, in Battala area of Garden Reach is facing the same problem of blockage in the supply of mid day meal to the children.

The school has a total strength of 454 students. Apart from Battala, supply of mid-day meal in municipal schools located in Sheikhpara, Kanchantala and Badartala of Garden Reach have also suffered a setback.

Also, according to the mid-day meal scheme, each child is entitled to receive uncooked food worth Rs 2.50 per day. The amount of rice allotted per month is 3kg per head. “But the recently set norms of the government, does not allow any school kid to carry uncooked share of the mid-day meal.

Hence, the heap of rice are piled up on the floors of the school buildings,” said an official of the Education Department, who visited the schools.