Akshaya Patra won’t supply  mid-day meal

PANAJI: The education department has said that there is no possibility of any new stakeholder entering the supply system of the mid-day meal scheme in the state during the forthcoming academic year, which indirectly indicates that the much-awaited Akshaya Patra will not provide the Goan schools with cooked meals under the particular scheme from the academic year 2018-19.   

Akshaya Patra, a Bengaluru-based non-profit wing of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness,  was expected to provide cooked food under the scheme on pilot basis, to the schools located at the Cujira Educational Complex from the forthcoming academic year.

Director of education G P Bhat informed this daily that from the academic year 2018-19 pulses would be supplied to all the self-help groups to be used in the cooked food they are presently supplying to the schools under the particular scheme.

“Furthermore, from the next academic year, the department of education will possibly provide advance part-payment to these self-help groups, as has been done in some states,” he added, pointing out that the department may also collect some security deposit from these SHGs.

Presently, altogether 105 local SHGs  have entered into a contract with the government to supply food items to school students under the scheme. The SHGs are paid an amount of Rs 6.11 per student of the primary school, while Rs 7.26 per student of the upper primary school. This is much above the national average of Rs 4.13 for primary students and Rs 6.18 for upper primary students, spent by most states.

The director of education stated that there has been  no delay from the side of the education department  in clearing the bills of the SHGs supplying food to the schools under the scheme and that from next academic year the department is going to make the payment to such SHGs  online.

“All over India, the responsibility of cooking and supplying meals to the students under the mid-day meal scheme is entrusted to the high schools. However, in Goa the self-help groups carry out this task; every such self-help group consists  of four or more members, and they have to submit the bills on time,” Bhat informed, pointing out that all such SHGs don’t submit their bills on time.

“Furthermore, if there is any discrepancy in these bills, then the particular self-help groups are called and the errors rectified, due to which the delay in payment is caused,” he clarified, noting that the additional staff has already been deputed by the department to make these payments.

The director of education further said the discrepancies in these bills are mostly due to the mismatch in the enrollment of students and the bills submitted; if the number of students are less and the bill is on the higher side then sorting out such error takes time.

“From the next academic year, we are also going to make online payments to such self-help groups,” he informed.