Ahead of panchayat polls, Bengal to serve chicken, fruits in mid-day meals for 4 months
West Bengal ,Jan 6 : The West Bengal government has decided to serve chicken and seasonal fruits in mid-day meals for a period of four months starting January. The development comes ahead of panchayat polls in 2023, triggering a political row between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP.
In addition to the existing mid-day meal of rice, potato, soyabean and eggs, chicken and seasonal fruits will be served weekly once for additional nutrition under PM Poshan, the notification read.
“Additional nutrition will include egg/ chicken/ seasonal fruits which may be added with normal PM-POSHAN on a weekly basis for 4 months from January 23 to April 23. Extra cost for additional nutrition per week per student will be Rs 20, “the notification from the state government’s education department read.
The provision of additional items, however, is unlikely to continue after April, a school department official told news agency PTI. An amount of Rs 371 crore has been sanctioned for the extra nutrition scheme.
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Students are at present given rice, pulses, vegetables, soybean and eggs in schools as part of mid-day meals. An amount of Rs 20 will be spent per week on providing additional nutrition to every student, and the process will continue for 16 weeks, according to the January 3 notification.
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Over 1.16 crore students in state-run and aided schools are beneficiaries of the mid-day meal scheme, for which the state and Centre share the cost on a 60:40 ratio.
“The additional items will be served with immediate effect in every block on different days of the week,” an official told PTI.
BJP vs TMC ON MID-DAY MEALS
The BJP was quick to corner the government over the timing of the introduction of additional items in mid-day meals in schools. The BJP questioned why such a decision was taken ahead of the panchayat elections due this year and Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
Responding to BJP, the TMC accused the opposition of ‘smelling politics in everything’.
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“The decision to serve chicken to school children ahead of elections raises questions about the change of heart of the TMC government. Why were poor children deprived of these items and only given rice and lentils till recently? The decision smacks of a political motive to secure votes as panchayat polls are around the corner,” BJP leader Rahul Sinha was quoted by PTI as saying.
TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen said party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee always stands by the side of the common people, and this decision “reaffirms that fact”.
“Trinamool Congress is a people-centric party, unlike the BJP which wants to do politics on every issue. During the COVID pandemic and lockdown, our state ensured that children were not deprived of mid-day meals and distributed rice, pulses, potato, soyabean regularly from school buildings. Despite difficulties, we did not shut down mid-day meals,” he added.
-The India Today
