Assam Teacher Alleges Misuse of Midday Meal Funds, Files Official Complaint

KALIGANJ: A formal complaint has been submitted by a teacher at Chaudhury Bazar Primary School (No. 466) in Kaliganj, Assam, alleging that the principal of the school embezzled almost Rs. 10 lakh that was designated for the noon meal program.

Sumana Choudhury, the instructor, says she was threatened by unknown people when she voiced her worries about the purported financial irregularities.

“Three individuals threatened me with dire consequences for discussing the issue with the media,” Choudhury said in her complaint, which she filed at the Kaliganj Police Station. She feels that her efforts to reveal the poor management have jeopardized her personal safety, therefore these threats have made her more concerned.

Choudhury claims that since 2017, Abdul Muqtadir, the headmaster of the school, has been engaged in the misappropriation of funds for the midday meal program. When the state government formally ordered all schools to return any unused or unspent money from the midday meal program, the problem was first brought to light.

Choudhury, however, claims that Chaudhury Bazar Primary School failed to reimburse any of the unused money, so she began looking into the situation on her own.

Choudhury believes there are financial irregularities since she found multiple inconsistencies in the school's management of the midday meal funding after looking into it more. This led her to bring the issue to the local government.

The Block Development Officer (BDO) came to the school to investigate the claims. The administrative committee of the school met after the visit to talk about Choudhury's concerns. However, tensions were high among the participants, and the meeting swiftly descended into furious arguments. During the encounter, Choudhury apparently felt uneasy and intimidated.

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