Representational.
Kolkata: The Union government is all set to employ a team to review the implementation of the midday meal scheme in West Bengal, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Saturday. He said that it would be a joint team of state and central government officials, and its arrival would be announced soon, PTI reported.
The minister said, "We had read about some reports about irregularities in midday meal (PM Poshan Scheme) in newspapers. On January 5, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari also submitted a note about largescale irregularities on the same issue. Hence while in 2020, the state had objected to the visit of any such joint review mission (JRM), this time, we are determined to send a JRM. Central officials, state officials and experts from the state will be part of the proposed team."
The move could be a response to Adhikari's letter about the irregularities in the scheme under the Mamata Banerjee government.
Meanwhile, the state government had allotted an additional Rs 371 crore for chicken and seasonal fruits recently. The said items were to be served to 11.6 million children in state-run and aided schools once a week in addition to the existing midday meal menu of rice, potato and soyabean. Eggs were also included to be served once a week.