T
he tall claims of success by Assam government on the implementation of various central schemes have once again been exposed for another time. After the Prime Minister, who had criticized Gogoi without mincing any words in front of all chief ministers last week, this time it is the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The CAG, in its latest report on the Mid-Day Meal scheme, has detected some disturbing facts in the implementation of the scheme in Assam. First, it was the Prime Minister. In last week’s chief ministers’ meet in Delhi, Dr Manmohan Singh had openly slammed the Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi for not utilizing the central funds properly. A beleaguered Gogoi, in stead of admitting his failure, had countered the Prime Minister in his much-hyped press conference on Saturday that the Centre has even failed to utilize cent per cent funds. But a day after, all his tall claims of success were laid exposed before the public by the Comptroller and Auditor General report on Mid Day meal scheme. Preparation of food in the open, engaging children for cooking and use of empty paint containers to serve meals are some of the shocking instances the country’s top audit watchdog CAG has found while inspecting schools running the Mid-Day Meal scheme in Assam. Despite the scheme existing for more than a decade, the CAG report noted that the government is yet to establish a dependable system for its evaluation. The report, which incorporates audit reviews for 19 states in the last five years, has also pointed out several deficiencies in infrastructural facilities for the scheme. According to the report, despite release of funds by the Centre for kitchen-cum-stores, the state governments and implementing agencies failed to release these funds on time. This resulted in improper storage of food and cooking of meals in classrooms or open spaces in 14 states. These States are Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. The report also noted lack of adequate utensils, gas stoves and potable water for cooking and drinking in test-checked schools in 12 States. The report also noted that despite guidelines to the contrary, teachers were actively involved in receipt of food grains, procurement of vegetables, cooking and serving of meals, thereby compromising on teaching hours. NETV, time and again has been exposing how the mid-day meal scheme has become a goose laying golden eggs for a section of teachers and education department officials. We recently exposed in a series of reports how the items meant for PDS and Mid Day Meal scheme are being sold in the black market at higher prices. The CAG report vindicated NETV’s reports on the way of functioning of Gogoi’s so-called transparent governance.
he tall claims of success by Assam government on the implementation of various central schemes have once again been exposed for another time. After the Prime Minister, who had criticized Gogoi without mincing any words in front of all chief ministers last week, this time it is the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. The CAG, in its latest report on the Mid-Day Meal scheme, has detected some disturbing facts in the implementation of the scheme in Assam. First, it was the Prime Minister. In last week’s chief ministers’ meet in Delhi, Dr Manmohan Singh had openly slammed the Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi for not utilizing the central funds properly. A beleaguered Gogoi, in stead of admitting his failure, had countered the Prime Minister in his much-hyped press conference on Saturday that the Centre has even failed to utilize cent per cent funds. But a day after, all his tall claims of success were laid exposed before the public by the Comptroller and Auditor General report on Mid Day meal scheme. Preparation of food in the open, engaging children for cooking and use of empty paint containers to serve meals are some of the shocking instances the country’s top audit watchdog CAG has found while inspecting schools running the Mid-Day Meal scheme in Assam. Despite the scheme existing for more than a decade, the CAG report noted that the government is yet to establish a dependable system for its evaluation. The report, which incorporates audit reviews for 19 states in the last five years, has also pointed out several deficiencies in infrastructural facilities for the scheme. According to the report, despite release of funds by the Centre for kitchen-cum-stores, the state governments and implementing agencies failed to release these funds on time. This resulted in improper storage of food and cooking of meals in classrooms or open spaces in 14 states. These States are Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. The report also noted lack of adequate utensils, gas stoves and potable water for cooking and drinking in test-checked schools in 12 States. The report also noted that despite guidelines to the contrary, teachers were actively involved in receipt of food grains, procurement of vegetables, cooking and serving of meals, thereby compromising on teaching hours. NETV, time and again has been exposing how the mid-day meal scheme has become a goose laying golden eggs for a section of teachers and education department officials. We recently exposed in a series of reports how the items meant for PDS and Mid Day Meal scheme are being sold in the black market at higher prices. The CAG report vindicated NETV’s reports on the way of functioning of Gogoi’s so-called transparent governance.
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