Sardarpur (Madhya Pradesh): Thousands of school kids from class first to eighth were deprived of getting Moong lentils after the salesmen at the public distribution shop (PDS) claimed that the Samagra ID of students and their parents could not be opened on the portal of the Food Department.
In other cases, some salesmen refused to give allotted food grain to the beneficiaries claiming that their thumb impressions do not match with the records.
Notably, about 35,555 students studying in different government schools from classes one to eight are supposed to get moong under a state government scheme which aims to ensure more nutrients in the food of the students. Under the scheme, 10 kg of moong dal will be given to students of classes 1 to 5 and 15 kg of moong dal to students of classes 6 to 8.
In Sardarpur tehsil of Dhar district, as many as 99 shops in rural and five shops in urban areas are authorised to distribute Moong pulse to the school kids after getting a thumb impression of their father or guardian.
Meanwhile, about 12,000 school kids from the tehsil are deprived of getting pulse from the PDS. Students and their parents are waiting to get their problems solved by either the food or the education department.
When contacted, assistant food officer Abhishek Upadhyay said that the records received by the Food Department from the portal of the Education Department are not fully updated.
We have enough moong allocation and as soon as the entire ID record on the Education Department portal is updated on the Food Department's portal, we will start the work of distribution of moong to the students.
On being asked how many students from the tehsil have received their allocation till June 22, Upadhyay replied that only the education department can provide exact details.
Similar was the answer of the Block Resource Coordinator (BRC) Bootsingh Bhanwar when contacted to know this information. He replied that he does not have the data, because moong has been distributed from the food department's ration shops. Only the food department will be able to tell the figures.
Migration of parents cause of concern
More than five thousand people of Sardarpur tehsil have migrated to Gujarat for work and their kids are studying in government schools and staying with their grandparents.
Nanuram, the grandfather of Sonam and Bhavna who are studying in a government school, said, “My son Vinod and his wife both work as labourers in Gujarat. Both the granddaughters are staying with us. When we went to the ration shop with our granddaughters, the salesman asked for their father saying that only after we get his thumb impression will we be able to give the moong. Thousands of such school kids are facing such a dilemma.”
Kids get wheat, rice by applying thumb impressions, why not moong?
Many parents who have gone to Gujarat to earn their livelihood questioned that when their kids get wheat and rice by applying their thumb impression, then why not moong. Sonam, a student in class five said that her parents work in Gujarat and she and her sister stay with her grandparents. Every month, if she gets wheat and rice at the ration shop by putting her thumb on the biometric machine, then she doesn’t understand why moong is not being distributed to the students through this process.
Moong should be distributed through school: PTA
Ramesh, president of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA), said that during the corona time students were given tur dal, soybean oil, wheat and rice through their school. Similarly, moong distribution should also be done through the schools. Many of the villagers work in Gujarat and elsewhere. At least the children should get the benefit of the government's ration scheme easily.
