Mid-Day Meals for children even when schools remain closed: WB government

The Project Director of the Mid-Day Meal Programme directed the district authorities to ask the schools to distribute rice, potato, sugar, pulses and soap among the guardians
Students being given the mid-day meal image for representational purpose only | (Pic:Express)
Students being given the mid-day meal image for representational purpose only | (Pic:Express)

As the summer vacation for the state-run and aided schools was extended by the West Bengal government, the state's School Education Department has asked the authorities to distribute Mid-Day Meal supplies to the guardians of the children from June 20-26, on Tuesday, June 14. The summer vacations were extended from June 15 by eleven days, till June 26.

The Project Director of the Mid-Day Meal Programme directed the district authorities to ask the schools to distribute rice, potato, sugar, pulses and soap among the guardians on designated dates and places, through a notice. According to it,  every guardian would get 2 kg of rice, 2 kg of potato, 250 gm of sugar, 250 gm of pulses and one soap from the school distribution centre, as per a PTI report.

"We have decided to provide Mid-Day Meal materials to school children for the second time during the summer holidays after the vacation was extended due to hot and humid conditions. If we wait till the schools open after the vacation on June 26, students will suffer as many of them look forward to this," informed a School Education Department official.

"After last May, this will be the second time that Mid-Day Meal supplies will be distributed among school children during summer vacation. Earlier, such supplies were provided to the students during the pandemic period when schools were closed," he added. The department had taken a similar initiative to distribute Mid-Day Meal supplies when the summer vacations began in May so that children were not deprived of the facility due to the closure of campuses.

Speaking about the current decision, the headmaster of a primary school in Purba Medinipur district, Akhil Maity, said, "We welcome the notice. Many poor families are on the lookout for Mid-Day Meals. During the lockdown, we distributed Mid-Day Meal items among guardians from our school in Kanthi area. The state government announced an extension of summer vacation by 11 days from June 15 to 26 in state-run and state-aided schools due to hot and humid conditions," as reported by PTI.

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