KOZHIKODE: The high prices of essential commodities and cooking gas have affected the mid-day meal scheme in schools in the state. To continue with the distribution of mid-day meals, the teachers’ associations are demanding a hike in project allowance as several schools are in financial crises.
The government, still following the 2016 rates, allows Rs 8 per child per day for schools with a feeding capacity for 150 students. Teachers are struggling to distribute food with the budget fixed six years ago, said a teachers’ association officer-bearer, who did not wish to be named.
“The expenses towards providing each child with 300ml of milk and an egg per week, besides buying vegetables, spices and cooking gas, needs to be met with that amount. In 2016, the price of one chicken egg was Rs 3.15, and now, it has increased to Rs 5.50. The price of cooking gas cylinder has crossed Rs 1,000,” he pointed out.He also cited the instance of a school that suffered a loss of Rs 7,500 in the mid-day meal project last month.
“There are schools which suffer losses above Rs 10,000. The government only provides rice and the remuneration for cooks (Rs 600 per day). The government has not accepted the demands of the teachers’ unions to increase the rates for many years,” he said.
Under the circumstances, headmasters are having to put aside their daily academic routines and manage mid-day meals, the teachers’ association official pointed out. “A set up modelled on Kudumbashree or community kitchen is recommended to manage this. We are planning a march to the offices of the deputy director of education across Kerala on August 20, and a hunger strike in front of the secretariat till the government finds a solution,” he said.
Children of Classes 1 to 8 are provided food under the mid-day meal scheme. As things stand, the head teachers say that if they get at least Rs 15 per student, they can provide lunch. The parent-teacher associations (PTA) and the school management committees (SMC) of 10 schools in the Kodiyathur panchayat have formed a collective recently to seek a solution for the mid-day meal crisis.
“The salaries of the cooks have also been delayed for two months. An allowance of Rs 2,000 each for the months of April and May, when the school was not functioning, too has been delayed. Schools which have less than 150-200 students suffer a minimum loss of Rs 4,000 every month,” said Abdul Rasak C V, the PTA president of the Government HSS, Cheruvadi, and the president of the collective of PTAs and SMCs.
He said asking PTA members to find sponsors and other means to fund mid-day meals is not a permanent solution. “When we found that other schools in the locality too are facing the same issue, we formed a panchayat level committee and sent petitions to the MLA and Rahul Gandhi, MP,” Rasak added.