Every child in primary and upper primary sections of government and government-aided schools receive midday meal
(Representative image/News18)
The decision left the midday meal workers association disappointed. The association said that the increment was much lower than what they had demanded
The Gujarat Education Department has marginally increased the cost of midday meal ingredients. According to The Times of India report, the state education department has raised the cost paid for the midday meal of Class 1 to Class 5 by 48 paise per meal. This increase in the case of the midday meal for Class 6 to Class 8 is 72 paise. The cost has been increased after repeated representations from primary schools across the state.
The decision, however, left the midday meal workers association disappointed. The association said that the increment was much lower than what they had demanded. Meanwhile, sources in the state education department informed that the central government had earlier issued orders asking them to increase the price paid for midday meals, after which the rise was announced, the report added.
Every child in primary and upper primary sections of government and government-aided schools across Gujarat receives a midday meal under the midday meal scheme.
In March this year, the state legislature was informed that Gujarat had recorded almost a 10 per cent decline in the amount spent on the mid-day meal scheme in 2022. The state government in a written reply to a question asked by Congress MLA Amit Chavda said that when compared to Rs 993.34 crore spent between February 1, 2021 and January 31, 2022, the Gujarat government has spent Rs 896.84 crore on the mid-day meal scheme from February 1, 2022, to January 31, 2023.
As per The Indian Express report, the data listed to support questions asked by the MLA displays that the expenditure on the mid-day meal scheme has declined. This has happened despite a 3-10 per cent rise in monthly expenditure per child enrolled under the scheme.
The data showed that between February 2021 and January 2022 – Rs 129.22 was spent on each child monthly, who was studying in Classes 1 to 6. Between February 2022 and January 2023 – Rs 143 was spent every month per child who was enrolled in Classes 1 to 6 while Rs 200.72 was spent on children studying in Classes 6 to 8. The Gujarat government did not mention any reason for its fall in overall expenses.
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