West Bengal: The state-run schools in West Bengal have been asked to distribute midday meal supplies among parents of students during the summer vacation to make sure that the children are not deprived of this facility which is offered when the schools are open.
This will be the first time that midday meal supplies will be distributed among school children during summer vacation, a school education department official said. This, however, was followed during the pandemic as well when the schools were closed.
All the district magistrates were directed to arrange for distributing midday meal supplies during the summer vacation at respective school points among guardians of beneficiary students as per a notice by the education department on Tuesday. The notice also asked the officials to chalk out 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-gram pulses, and one piece of soap, the notice said. The Headmistress of a primary school in Murshidabad district, Firoza Begum, 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, there will not be any logistical problem, Begum said.
