West Bengal gov't instructs schools to distribute midday meal supplies to parents during summer vacation

Now, midday meals will come to students during the vacations. The West Bengal government has directed state government schools to distribute midday meal supplies among parents of students during the summer vacation so that the children are not deprived of the scheme.

This will be the first time that midday meal supplies will be distributed among school children during the summer vacation, a school education department official said, according to a PTI report. Till now, the supplies were given to the students during the pandemic period when schools were shut.

In a notice, the education department, on Tuesday, May 17, directed all district magistrates to arrange for distributing midday meal supplies among guardians of beneficiary students. The notice also asked the officials to devise a distribution plan by May 25 so that the distribution of supplies could be carried out by every school. Each student would get 2 kg of rice, 2 kg of potato, 250 gram sugar, 250 grams of pulses and one bar of soap, the notice said. 

Firoza Begum, Headmistress of a primary school in Murshidabad district, said, "This is a good step. We will fix a date after May 25, and ask a section of the employees and teachers to come to the school to hand over the uncooked midday meal items to the guardians." As such, items had been distributed among parents during the pandemic phase so there would not be any logistical problem, Begum added.