Mid-Day Meal: State conducts social audit of over 5K schools
Kolkata: The West Bengal government has taken proactive measures to enhance the effectiveness and quality of the PM Poshan Programme, known as the ‘Cooked Mid Day Meal’ scheme, by conducting a comprehensive social audit across 5,405 schools in 2023-2024 financial year. This audit, carried out by the Social Audit Unit of the state, highlighted both positive outcomes and areas needing improvement.
In response to the audit findings, the state has swiftly implemented measures to address the identified issues, showcasing its commitment to continuous improvement.
The audit assessed various aspects such as the quality and quantity of mid-day meals, hygiene practices, drinking water sources and health check-ups. Data was collected by Village Resource Persons (VRP) under the guidance of District Resource Persons from school stakeholders, including headmasters, managing committee members, students, cooks, and guardians.
The audit revealed a mix of successes and significant areas for improvement. Hygiene practices were inadequate in 42 schools, food storage systems were unsatisfactory in over 100, and 30 schools reported poor-quality rice. Additionally, 437 schools had inadequate water sources, 684 had reported irregular health check-ups, and 395 lacked sufficient deworming and iron-folic acid supplies.
Other concerns included the absence of separate toilets for boys and girls in nearly 300 schools, missing boundary walls in over 1,000 schools, and inadequate drinking water facilities in approximately 250 schools. Underweight children were reported in nine schools in Purba Medinipur and 60 in Hooghly. Meal service was unsatisfactory in 28 schools, particularly 19 in Howrah. Many schools lacked weighing machines, had poor fund management, inadequate accounting practices, failed to maintain food-tasting registers, or lacked fire extinguishers and first aid supplies. A senior official of the state PM Poshan programme emphasised that the data collected by VRPs was presented during Gram Sabha meetings for community review and action. The identified issues were discussed in block-level public hearings and district exit meetings to enhance the program’s implementation.
“We sent the district-wise report to the concerned District Magistrates (DMs) for action on the identified problems. Some minor issues were resolved promptly. For major issues, work is ongoing. We have requested action taken reports from the districts,” said another official. The report of the audit was also sent to the Central government’s Ministry of Education.
