Kerala High Court Asks State To Explain How It Proposes To Disburse Rs 230 Crore Funds Allocated For Mid-Day Meals
Manju Elsa Isac
4 July 2024 10:09 AM GMT
The Kerala High Court has asked the State to explain how it will disburse the funds allocated by the government towards mid-day meals in government school.
An amount of Rs. 232 Crores has been allocated in the State Budget for supplementary expenses in the mid-day meals in school for the year 2024- 2025. The Government has to inform the court about the methodology used for calculating the amount, the manner in which they will distribute the amount and the timeline within which they will do it.
Justice Ziyad Rahman A. A. was hearing a petition filed by Kerala Pradesh School Teachers' Assosciation stating that headmasters of the schools have to meet the expenses of noon-meal scheme from their own pocket due to the inadequate and untimely disbursal of funds by the State.
The petitioner submitted that in schools with a large number of students, the whole salary of the headmaster would not suffice to meet the expenses. It was argued that the Government cannot ask anyone to part with their money even for a day, except by way of taxation. Additional to this, the headmasters are also burdened with the task of overseeing the scheme which includes procurement of materials.
The Court noted that the school level committees for implementing the scheme only has a limited role as per the scheme of committees. The mid-day meal scheme is implemented though committees at 5 levels – National, State, District, Village and Schools. The teachers and headmaster in the committee are only required to oversee the implementation of the scheme through various committees.
The Court asked the State and Centre to place on record the steps they have taken as per the guidelines for the implementation of the scheme. The Court said that the funds for the scheme is to be provided by the State and Centre.
The case is posted for further hearing on 10th of July.
The plea is moved by Advocates Tony George Kannanthanam and Thomas George
Case Title: Kerala Pradesh School Teachers Assosciation v State of Kerala
Case Number: WP(C) No 29565 of 2023 and other connected cases
