-The Hindu The Centre notified the mid-day meals rules on Thursday, making running quality tests and sticking to nutritional standards mandatory. The State governments will be held accountable for non-delivery of service. The exhaustive guidelines to be followed by the States come days after 80 children fell ill after being served milk in a school in Agra. If a school fails to serve food to students for three consecutive school days or five...
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Mid-Day Meal: Centre Not to Reimburse States for LPG Cylinders
-Outlook The Centre has decided it would not reimburse the states for unsubsidised LPG cylinders used for Mid-Day Meal scheme and that the cooking gas would now be available only at market price, triggering protests and fears that it will "adversely" impact the flagship programme. Concerned over the additional financial burden the move would have on their coffers, some states are planning to send representation to the HRD Ministry. According to a recent...
More »Midday meals to lose gas cushion -Basant Kumar Mohanty
-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Centre has decided to stop reimbursing states for the unsubsidised cooking gas cylinders they are forced to buy for the school midday meal scheme. A food security adviser expressed the fear that the Centre's decision may force states to fall back on firewood. But a former member of the National Advisory Council backed the decision, saying states should make use of the additional money they were getting...
More »Rajasthan brings private sector in state-run primary schools, triggers fierce debate -Amulya Gopalakrishnan
-The Times of India Neetu Meena, 16, in a pale blue uniform, wants to become a nurse. She is the first girl in her family to get this far at school. Schooling is not only free, she gets a scholarship and a bike to come in to the senior secondary government school in Jhar village, Bassi, near Jaipur. At the school, a blackboard lists about twenty schemes, from special scholarships for girls,...
More »Socio Economic Caste Census: Has It Ignored Too Many Poor Households? -NC Saxena
-Economic and Political Weekly A survey to identify who the poor are and how many are actually poor is necessary if programmes and benefits targeted at the needy are to reach them. The Socio Economic Caste Census, of which partial results have been published, was intended to do this. Yet, even a cursory look at the figures indicates that they call for a willing suspension of disbelief. N C Saxena (naresh.saxena@gmail.com) was...
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