Kerala's 99% midday meal coverage claim under Centre lens

NEW DELHI: The Centre has decided to form a joint team comprising officials from the ministry of education (MoE) and the Kerala government to look into Kerala's claim that 99% students in the state's primary and upper primary schools have availed mid-day meals on daily basis in 2022-23.
The matter came under the scanner after it was flagged on May 15, 2023 during the Programme Approval Board (PAB) of PM Poshan meeting. Earlier, the education ministry found discrepancies in the information submitted by the West Bengal government in the implementation of the scheme in the state.
According to a senior official of MoE, the government has decided to examine the "improbable" claims made by the state about almost 99% of enrolled children in primary school availing mid-day meals on a daily basis in the last academic year.
The matter was flagged in the PAB meeting of the scheme, formerly known as the mid-day meal scheme. "PAB observed that in the districts as mentioned in the above tables, almost 100% of the enrolled children in primary school have been shown as availed school meals on all working days. This seems highly improbable."
As per the minutes of the meeting, PAB decided that a team of representatives from central and state government may visit a few districts to ascertain the ground level picture to verify the authenticity of the reported coverage by cross verifying data from various levels - schools, blocks, and districts.
The PAB has also advised the state to have robust and fool-proof mechanism to ensure the data entry through correct and real time reporting of actual number of students availed school meal on each working day.
"PAB also advised the state to ensure that data on the coverage of students from districts may be captured in the format of Quarterly Progress Report for greater transparency, accuracy and accountability," the minutes stated.