Assam: Bokakhat schools struggle to run Mid-Day Meal Scheme amid low budget, fund delays

A CORRESPONDENT

BOKAKHAT: With a budget of just Rs 6.78 per student per day, primary school teachers are finding it increasingly difficult to run the Mid-Day Meal Scheme in Assam. The prescribed menu includes a boiled egg on Wednesdays, along with vegetables, pulses, cooking oil, salt, and spices. A special menu is also prescribed for the remaining five days of the week. It seems that primary school teachers have to perform nothing short of a miracle to manage the meals within such a meagre allocation. With a single egg costing Rs 10 in the market, teachers have somehow been managing to provide students with a Rs 10 egg along with the other prescribed food items within the allotted budget of Rs 6.78. For the past two to three months, schools have reportedly not received the funds allocated for the scheme. As a result, head teachers have been purchasing food items and other essential supplies on credit from their own initiative to ensure that students continue receiving mid-day meals. However, the situation has become particularly difficult for schools with large student enrolments.

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