‘Centre’s panel submitted report on Mid-Day Meal Scheme sans sign of state’s representative’

MP | 12 Apr 2023 | Kolkata : Alleging that the state BJP leaders are acting as the face of Joint Review Mission (JRM) that had reportedly pointed out ‘discrepancies’ in the implementation of Midday Meal scheme in the state in its report, Education minister Bratya Basu on Wednesday said the views of the state were not taken into account by the mission while it compiled the report. 

The minister alleged that the report was submitted without the signature of the Project Director, State-Cooked Midday Meal Scheme, who was the representative of the state government in the JRM. He raised questions over the role of JRM for not considering the state government representative’s inputs in the report. 

“What, therefore, is the ‘Joint’ in the Joint Review Committee, if the report is not even shared with him for his opinion or views,” Basu said in a written response that he shared on his Twitter handle. He alleged that the views of the state were not taken into account while compiling the report. 

The state has written to the JRM Chairman on the matter and according to Basu, no response has been received yet. “Why is this ‘hide and seek’ play, if there is no malafide intent of the Central Government? 

Now, as far as the press report goes, it contains lots of data, which has to be verified in the first step. Secondly, it has to be seen whether the JRM report reflects the actual fact and if State Government’s views regarding the alleged ‘discrepancies’ have been incorporated. Then we can actually react to this news,”Basu wrote. 

“The state BJP leaders are acting as the face of JRM alleging irregularities. Why not a single member of the team have the courage to come before the media and face their queries,” he added. The 13th Joint Review Mission (JRM), consisting of 11-members, had begun their inspection of schools from North 24-Parganas on January 30. 

The JRM typically comprises representatives from the state and Centre to review the implementation of a scheme. According to Basu, CAG has conducted an audit till 2021-2022 but the state did not receive any feedback from them. He also stated that the state will send their comments with details, even if they do not receive a reply from centre or JRM chairperson on the non-circulation of the draft report or sending of the same without the signature of the state representative. 

“The State of West Bengal is the largest shareholder in the program by serving 1.2 crore students daily out of a total of 12 crore students in the country,” the minister wrote. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/misappropriation-of-flood-relief-fund-in-malda-high-court-orders-cag-probe-515052?infinitescroll=1