In a gross violation of quality and safety standards of the mid-day meal being served to over 12.97 lakh primary and upper primary school students in Delhi, officials, in connivance with NGOs, have stopped regular testing of food samples since 31 October, 2012. Surprisingly, senior bureaucrats are not aware of this, but officers directly dealing with the project revealed the contract for testing of samples with the designated laboratory could not be renewed as the NGO refused to pay the fee they have been paying since 2005.
As per norms, around 100 samples of mid-day meals are tested in the laboratory every month costing around Rs 5 lakh to the NGOs. ‘Four samples were picked from each NGO per month, two from kitchens and two from schools. But this was stopped as the contract for testing with the Shriram Institute for Industrial Research ended in October,’ said a senior officer of the mid-day meal department, Delhi government. ‘As far as I know, the samples are being checked regularly. I will look into the matter and take appropriate action,’ said Diwan Chand, Education Secretary cum nodal officer of the project, Delhi government.
Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) had a three-year agreement with the same institute in 2008 for testing mid-day meal samples. The contract says 36 samples per month were to be collected from schools and 10 from kitchens of NGOs. The contract was extended in 2011 for one year and twice for three months each in 2012. ‘The testing of mid-day meal food samples is not being done as the contract with the laboratory expired recently,’ said YS Mann, spokesperson of North & East DMC.
According to our sources, the main reason behind non-renewal of the contract is that NGOs refused to pay for the test which costs around Rs 5,000 per sample. Millennium Post carried a series of seven investigative stories from 22 October to 31 October, 2012 highlighting mid-day meal scam in Delhi.
As per norms, around 100 samples of mid-day meals are tested in the laboratory every month costing around Rs 5 lakh to the NGOs. ‘Four samples were picked from each NGO per month, two from kitchens and two from schools. But this was stopped as the contract for testing with the Shriram Institute for Industrial Research ended in October,’ said a senior officer of the mid-day meal department, Delhi government. ‘As far as I know, the samples are being checked regularly. I will look into the matter and take appropriate action,’ said Diwan Chand, Education Secretary cum nodal officer of the project, Delhi government.
Delhi Municipal Corporation (DMC) had a three-year agreement with the same institute in 2008 for testing mid-day meal samples. The contract says 36 samples per month were to be collected from schools and 10 from kitchens of NGOs. The contract was extended in 2011 for one year and twice for three months each in 2012. ‘The testing of mid-day meal food samples is not being done as the contract with the laboratory expired recently,’ said YS Mann, spokesperson of North & East DMC.
According to our sources, the main reason behind non-renewal of the contract is that NGOs refused to pay for the test which costs around Rs 5,000 per sample. Millennium Post carried a series of seven investigative stories from 22 October to 31 October, 2012 highlighting mid-day meal scam in Delhi.