Rotten Midday Meal Rice Found In The Government School Of Baramulla

On Monday, July 21, around 30 quintals of rotten midday meal rice were found in the Government school of Baramulla. The rotten midday meal rice infested with insects and emitting a foul smell in the storeroom of the school has raised serious questions over the management and accountability of the mid-day meal scheme, and serious concerns over the health of the school students.
Not only this, but students have also complained about the insects found in the midday meals prepared for them. Nonetheless, the school authorities did not respond to their grievances. One of the students said: “There is often a foul smell emanating from the stored rotten rice. The same rotten rice is being prepared for us”.

The school comes under one of the historical schools in the region of north Kashmir since it was established by Maharaja Hari Singh as one of the first five forced schools in pre-1947 Kashmir for educating the students of Baramulla.
It is operating as a cluster school, having merged seven schools under the government school rationalisation policy and enrols over 200 students.
Having such a large quantity of rice has raised concerns about its procurement and food stock monitoring. A resident named Muhammad Ashraf has stated that the school might be taking rice by faking the number of students or failing to cook meals for enrolled students. Adding that, many people are not managing to procure the rice, while the government school has allowed such a huge quantity to go to waste.

The Department of School Education gets rice through the Public Distribution System (PDS) under the mid-day meal scheme, and then it is delivered to school on the basis of the number of students enrolled and how many school days are planned. School headmasters are responsible for collecting, storing and keeping the records of the given rice for the mid-day meal scheme.
Notably, an inquiry has been started by the Chief Education Officer. Moreover, he said that a committee of officials has been formed which will submit its report in the short time, and the necessary action will be initiated.