The breakfast scheme in government schools in Kozhikode city, which was discontinued a few months ago, may not resume until the beginning of the next academic year. The scheme had been discontinued in most schools since November 2019 due to non-availability of funds. “Beakfast committees in schools are currently in huge debt. After a time, they just gave up,” said Sathish Kumar, councillor from Beypore Port who brought up the issue before the Corporation council recently.
Education standing committee chairman M. Radhakrishnan said that the Corporation was taking steps to tackle any financial crisis that might arise during the implementation of the programme next year.
The Corporation claims to have deposited ₹60 lakh in the treasury to aid the scheme. But the treasury ban prevented schools from making use of it. Only bills upto ₹5 lakh are passed by treasuries in the State now. Since the fund for the breakfast scheme is a single bill, it cannot be split up, Mr. Radhakrishnan said adding that the Corporation would ensure that separate bills were drawn for each school in the next academic year.