AGARTALA / TELIAMURA, Dec 3 (TIWN): Living inside Secretariat's air condition rooms with full of luxuries, Tripura's so called poor Ministers hardly care for the voice of poor people, but in every village areas, even in town areas too, so many poor little students who wants to be a big person in future depending on the only one-time meal which is given at their schools on central govt's mid-day meal scheme. Even in that mid-day meal scheme too, corruption, bad quality food grains causing extreme sufferings for poor students across state.

Although Manik Sarkar's govt. claims that ‘no poverty’ exists at all in the state, but the story of Akash Mallik will change that perception of thousands of poor students across state.

Akash attends in class 7 in Gamai Bari H S School at Teliamura, belongs to a very poor family where everyday two times meal is a very rare occurance. Akash wants to be a big person liek a Doctor or Engineer in his life but due to his poverty, he is deprived of basic needs of human life.

However, one of his teacher while talking to TIWN  said that Akash comes to school everyday after a long walk,  feeding his stomache with a piece of ‘Chapati’ and water.

School’s mid-day meal is his lunch,only big meal and at night he and his family hardly get anything to eat.

It’s to be mentioned here in Tripura,  many times poor quality insect ridden mid-day-meal caused children on the verge of death from Dharmanagar to Sabroom on various instances.

Govt. is not at all much serious about the quality of the food, provided in mid-day-meals across state, neither any quality monitoring.

But for poor students like Akash, this once in a day food means a lot. Doesn’t matter the quality of a food, when povery gripped life.

Mid-day meal was started by central govt. to provide students nutritious food and especially for the poor students.

But under the regime of Manik Sarkar's  left front party here in Tripura, school’s poor quality either in infrastructure or in meal poor students are deprived at a large.

According to the mid-day meal scheme & rights of students it’s said that:

1.     Children in every Government and Government assisted Primary will get a minimum content of 300 calories and 8–12 grams of protein each day of school for a minimum of 200 days,

2.     The conversion costs for a cooked meal, under no circumstances, shall be recovered from the children or their parents,

3.     In appointment of cooks and helpers, preference shall be given to Dalits, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

4.     Attempts shall be made for better infrastructure, improved facilities,safe drinking water,regular inspection etc.

5.      In drought affected areas, midday meals shall be supplied even during summer vacations

Menu should include atleast these as per Central Govt directive:

Calories:              700,

Protein (In gram): 20,

Rice(In gram):     150,

Daal(In gram):      30,

Vegetable (In gram): 75 Oil & fat: 7.5

But unfortunately, scam tainted Manik Sarkar's Tripura Govt. making the students barely happy with Khichudi, which has no taste neither quality, but for students like Akash this food means their survival.