Mayor gets tough on mid-day meal anomalies
13 July 2012 12:39 AM GMT
The mid-day meal issue got murkier on Thursday. Mayor of East Delhi Municipal Corporation [EDMC] Annapurna Mishra in her surprise visit to a school on Wednesday found out that the contractor, Stri Shakti, was claiming almost four times for the mid-day meal provided by them. Mishra wrote a letter to members of standing committee to postpone the decision of re-allotment of the mid-day meal to Stri Shakti canteens.
'The standing committee should not approve proposal of allotment of canteens till the report of the food samples taken from the canteen of Stri Shakti comes to the corporation and matter is thoroughly investigated,' wrote Mishra in her letter, a copy of which is with Millennium Post.
The proposal for allotment of the canteens for mid-day meal in the current session was listed for the meeting of standing committee of EDMC on Thursday. The mayor wrote letter to the members to oppose the proposal due to the ongoing irregularities. 'It was found that the contractor is being paid for 250 students, but there were only 60 to 70 students in the EDMC School in Krishna Nagar,' added the mayor. The mayor also directed the officials for alternative arrangement of the mid-day meal till the report about the food samples comes from the laboratory. A committee has been constituted to investigate the matter.
Leader of opposition Varyam Kaur demanded a detailed inquiry into the matter and action against the culprits and waived the letter of the mayor in the meeting. 'This is the first time in the history the mayor has written to the committee members. It's a serious matter and requires urgent action,' said Kaur.
The irregularities in the mid-day meal scheme to favour Stri Shakti was also reported by Millennium Post on Thursday in which the NGO was favoured by officials of North Delhi Municipal Corporation [NDMC] to allot them canteens against the set norms.
The NGO, in connivance with the education officers and teachers of the corporation, get the payment for all the students 'enrolled' in the schools no matter whether they are present or not. Further, it has also been found out that students are registered in more than one schools to provide undue benefit to mid-day meal contractors.
According to sources, the BJP workers who accompanied the mayor, trashed the employees of the Stri Shakti and fractured the leg of one Harsh Gupta. Gupta reportedly submitted a complaint against the supporters of Mishra and standing committee chairman, Mehek Singh. But the police has not registered the complaint so far. When contacted, Gupta refused to give any detail.
Meanwhile, EDMC has also directed the councillors of the area to go to schools on surprise visits and eat mid-day meal provided to the children.
'If you found it sub-standard, get the sample of the food either yourself or through the officials of the health department to be tested in laboratory. If any anomaly is found, action must be taken against the contractors,' said Singh.
'The standing committee should not approve proposal of allotment of canteens till the report of the food samples taken from the canteen of Stri Shakti comes to the corporation and matter is thoroughly investigated,' wrote Mishra in her letter, a copy of which is with Millennium Post.
The proposal for allotment of the canteens for mid-day meal in the current session was listed for the meeting of standing committee of EDMC on Thursday. The mayor wrote letter to the members to oppose the proposal due to the ongoing irregularities. 'It was found that the contractor is being paid for 250 students, but there were only 60 to 70 students in the EDMC School in Krishna Nagar,' added the mayor. The mayor also directed the officials for alternative arrangement of the mid-day meal till the report about the food samples comes from the laboratory. A committee has been constituted to investigate the matter.
Leader of opposition Varyam Kaur demanded a detailed inquiry into the matter and action against the culprits and waived the letter of the mayor in the meeting. 'This is the first time in the history the mayor has written to the committee members. It's a serious matter and requires urgent action,' said Kaur.
The irregularities in the mid-day meal scheme to favour Stri Shakti was also reported by Millennium Post on Thursday in which the NGO was favoured by officials of North Delhi Municipal Corporation [NDMC] to allot them canteens against the set norms.
The NGO, in connivance with the education officers and teachers of the corporation, get the payment for all the students 'enrolled' in the schools no matter whether they are present or not. Further, it has also been found out that students are registered in more than one schools to provide undue benefit to mid-day meal contractors.
According to sources, the BJP workers who accompanied the mayor, trashed the employees of the Stri Shakti and fractured the leg of one Harsh Gupta. Gupta reportedly submitted a complaint against the supporters of Mishra and standing committee chairman, Mehek Singh. But the police has not registered the complaint so far. When contacted, Gupta refused to give any detail.
Meanwhile, EDMC has also directed the councillors of the area to go to schools on surprise visits and eat mid-day meal provided to the children.
'If you found it sub-standard, get the sample of the food either yourself or through the officials of the health department to be tested in laboratory. If any anomaly is found, action must be taken against the contractors,' said Singh.
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