Kerala High Court seeks details of steps taken to implement mid-day meal scheme in schools

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday asked both the State and Central governments to inform it of the steps taken to implement the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (mid-day meal scheme) in government-aided schools [Kerala Pradesh School Teachers Association & ors v State of Kerala & anr]..The Court was hearing a petition filed last year, which alleged that school principals were forced to pay out of pocket to meet the expenses of the noon-meal scheme due to poor fund allocation.On July 2, the Court was told that the State government has now allocated ₹232 crores to meet the expenses of providing supplementary nutrition as part of the mid-day meal scheme for the year 2024-2025. The State's government pleader added that he would get instructions on how this amount is proposed to be distributed to schools and the timeline within which these funds would be disbursed.Justice Ziyad Rahman AA recorded the State's submission but proceeded to note that there is nothing on record to show what concrete steps have been taken to implement the mid-day meal scheme. Therefore, the Court has now asked the Central and State governments to file a statement on this aspect of the matter. "The learned DSGI, as well as the learned Government Pleader, are directed to get instructions as to the steps they have already taken in pursuance to guidelines for providing Noon-meals under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman," the Court ordered. .The Court also noted that the Central government's Mid-day Meal Rules envisaged a system of committees at five levels to oversee the implementation of the scheme. He observed that the role of headmasters and teachers is limited to overseeing the scheme's execution and that it was the Central and State governments who were responsible for jointly funding the scheme..The petition before the High Court was filed by the Kerala Pradesh School Teachers' Association (KPSTA) and headmasters of certain government and aided schools.The petitioners argued that school headmasters should be absolved from the responsibility of running the noon-meal scheme given that the funds provided for the scheme were untimely and inadequate.The petitioners said that the funds allotted by the government were insufficient to meet even half the actual costs, forcing headmasters to cover expenses from their salaries and borrowed funds.The petitioners added that it was impossible to run the scheme when the government does not reimburse the headmasters who meet the expenses.The petitioners, therefore, argued that the government should either meet the entire expenses of the scheme in advance or stop the scheme altogether..The matter will be heard next on July 10. .The petitioners were represented by senior counsel Tony George Kannanthanam along with instructing counsel Bibin P Thomas and advocate Thomas George.Special Government Pleader TB Hood appeared for the Kerala government. Deputy Solicitor General of India TC Krishna represented the Central government.