- By Kamakshi Bishnoi
- Thu, 01 May 2025 05:52 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Education Department in Bihar, is implementing stricter measures to curb fraudulent practices and ensure food quality in the midday meal scheme provided in government schools. Headmasters are now mandated to submit daily certificates, signed by themselves and all teachers present on that day, verifying the actual number of students who received meals.
This initiative aims to enhance monitoring and enforcement of the scheme, which caters to students from first to eighth grade. The Additional Chief Secretary of the Education Department, Dr S Siddharth, has issued directives to all district program officers overseeing the midday meal scheme to ensure strict adherence to these new guidelines.
It has come to light that some schools are not maintaining proper records of meal distribution and payments are being made to NGOs without the required certificates. This will be categorised as financial irregularity.
District program officers have been instructed to ensure that headmasters submit daily reports in the prescribed format. Similarly, NGOs must also submit monthly reports from affiliated schools. Payments will be processed only after verification of these certificates. No bills will be considered valid without the required certification.