AGARTALA, June 1 (TIWN): National Media “The Wire” has reported that Tripura Govt has not provided food to any child under Mid Day Meal scheme during the lockdown period.

The report was published based on RIT document evidences.

“The BJP government in Tripura, led by Biplab Kumar Deb, has not provided food to any child under the mid-day meal scheme while the schools remained closed during the lockdown, according to documents accessed through the RTI”, Wire tweeted.

“Given that a lack of proper nutrition weakens the immune systems, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) had asked state governments and the administrators of Union Territories to ensure that children get their meals even though schools were closed due to the COVID-19 threat. However, in Tripura, the state government did not provide meals to the children, but instead credited the accounts of students or their relatives with a lump sum that is less than the amount prescribed as the cost of cooking under the MDM scheme”, reported The Wire.

In a letter dated April 6, 2020, the director of the Tripura elementary education department, Saju Vaheed A, asked the inspector of schools to transfer the cost for food grain and cost of cooking as prescribed under the MDM scheme at the directorate level into the accounts of all students or their parents.

However, the amount allocated per student by the state government is much less than even the cooking cost. 

According to the letter, the Tripura government asked the inspector of schools to credit Rs 150 at the rate of Rs 5 per day to the accounts of primary school students (Class 1 to V) and Rs 210 at Rs 7 per day to the students at the upper primary level (Class VI-VIII) for a period of 30 days between March 17 and April 17, 2020.