Bhubaneswar: The School and Mass Education (S&ME) department Wednesday directed the district Collectors to ensure payment of cooking costs of Mid Day Meals (MDM) to the students during closure of schools amidst lockdown.
In a letter, state nodal officer of MDM Gangadhar Sahoo said, “Earlier, it was instructed to provide MDM dry ration to schoolchildren from March 16 to June 13, 2020 at one go through fair price shops and PDS retailers. But MDM Rules, 2015 envisage that if the noon meals are not provided in the schools owing to any reason, the government shall pay the food security allowance as per entitlement of child and prevailing cooking cost of the state.”
He said that the officials must collect the bank account numbers and IFSC code of the concerned banks where the children and parents have their accounts and transfer the cooking cost which is Rs 4.93 for primary and Rs 7.36 for upper primary students for the period from March 16 to March 31, 2020 (16 days).
However, for April 1 to June 13, 2020 period the cooking cost of Rs 5.42 for primary and Rs 8.10 for upper primary students would be paid (for 74 days). The amount should be sent to the accounts on direct benefits transfer (DBT) mode. So, as per above circulation, a primary student is entitled to receive Rs 479.96 and an upper primary student Rs 717.16 for the lockdown period of 90 days.
In case of nun-availability of bank accounts, the payment would be made at the school in the presence of SMC members maintaining social distance. The government has also said that as an alternative arrangement, teachers can make payments at doorsteps observing Covid-19 safety norms.
All possible efforts shall be made to pay the cooking cost of the above period (90 days) directly to school students through RTGS/NEFT mode. All DEOs may be instructed to transfer the cooking cost for the above period to the school accounts immediately and progress of the disbursement may be sent in enclosed format.
