The Yogi Adityanath government came under fire after visuals of roti and salt being served in the midday meal at a school in Mirzapur surfaced on the social media.
Around 100 students from classes 1 to 8 were served rotis and salt as their midday meal, instead of the rice, pulses and vegetables that were advertised on the state government’s website. The UP government’s website for the midday meal authority features a video in which children are seen eating rice, pulses and vegetables. It also includes a weekly supply of fresh and seasonal fruits among students as ‘best practices’.
On the contrary, the video that went viral on social media shows school children sufficing their stomach with only rotis and salt.
As per NDTV report, a parent criticised the conditions in the government school. “Children get either roti-salt or rice-salt on most days. Milk is given very rarely, and proper food is served only when some important comes for a visit.”
Taking cognisance of the matter, district magistrate Anurag Patel said that he has set up an inquiry and the incident has found to be true. He said that based on the prima facie, it was the fault of the teacher-in-charge and the supervisor at the Gram Panchayat. Both of them have been suspended along with the school principal, the entire teaching staff, and even the basic education officer.
The Uttar Pradesh government says that it provides mid-day meals to over one crore children across the state studying in 1.5 lakh primary and middle schools. Centre’s mid-day meal scheme is supposed to provide a minimum of 450 calories per day, which should include at least 12 grams of protein each day. The said meal must be served to each child at least 200 days a year.
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