Kerala education minister blames centre for mid-day meal crisis in the state

NEW DELHI: Kerala general education minister V Sivankutty has blamed the central government for the ongoing mid-day meal crisis in the state. School authorities and teachers’ organisations are protesting across the state as the Government of Kerala is yet to release funds for PM Poshan, the erstwhile mid-day meal scheme.

Due to the lack of funds, most schools are either in debt and owe money to the shops from which they regularly buy groceries or are having to pool funds from their own pockets to meet the expenses.

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Kerala education minister V Sivankutty alleged that ever since the Public Financial Management System (PFMS), a centralised monitoring system, was introduced in 2021-22 there have been massive delays in releasing funds for the state governments.

Kerala mid-day meal scheme funds

Funding for PM Poshan – mid-day meal scheme – is shared between the union and state government in a 60:40 ratio with 60% coming from the centre. The central government releases its share in two instalments, 60% and 40% of its share of funds.

As per the central government, Kerala is entitled to Rs 170.59 crore as the first instalment. However, Kerala education minister V Sivankutty alleged that the central government has not released the funds even though the state submitted its proposal by July 4.

Sivankutty alleged that the department posed “strange questions” regarding the documents and has not yet released the funds despite the state government’s reply to the questions.

“Even when the proposals and the financial documents required for the central funds are submitted on time, the central government takes the unfortunate stance of either delaying or refusing the funds that the state governments are meant to receive. This has put the mid-day meal system in a crisis. Due to this delay, the state government is unable to give the monthly funds for the schools and honorarium for the cooks on time,” said Sivankutty.

The minister alleged that except for Madhya Pradesh, which received Rs 156.58 crore, no other state has received the first instalment of the central fund for the mid-day meal scheme.

The Kerala General Education Department has also requested the Kerala Finance Department to release funds of Rs 209.68 crore on an emergency basis to meet the deficiency, the minister said.