A teacher serves mid-day-meal to students in a government-run primary school. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, April 8: After the dal scam rocked the state, an embarrassed government has restructured the midday meal scheme.

According to new guidelines issued by the women and child development department, the procurement of materials will be decentralised. Local self-help groups will be entrusted with the job. Village education committees will take up the responsibility where self-help groups are not available. Earlier, private suppliers were supplying materials at the district level.

The system was decentralised after vigilance sleuths detected supply of spurious and substandard pulses for the midday meal scheme in five districts.

Women and child development minister Pramila Mallick had to resign in the wake of the dal scam. Two district collectors were suspended and another was transferred, while criminal cases were instituted against 32 erring officials and unscrupulous private suppliers.

Supreme Court and the high court had also earlier directed the government not to engage private contractors for supply of materials for the scheme. The state government had also drawn flak for associating teachers in the implementation of midday meal scheme, which affected teaching activities.

In this context, the government has now decided not to associate teachers in the purchase of materials.

Now, district collectors will release funds to local self-help groups or village education committees. These funds will be deposited in a joint account in the name of respective school headmasters and the president of the self-help group or village education committee concerned.

While the state government will provide rice for the midday meal, other materials like vegetable, edible oil and salt will be purchased from the local markets. The local sarpanch will be entrusted with the supervision of the programme at the school level. Block development officers will be held responsible if the midday meal is stopped in any school due to want of funds. District collectors, who head the district-level monitoring committee, will take up monthly review of the programme.

The ration cost has been fixed at Rs 3.30 for each primary school student and Rs 4.92 for each upper primary school student. The menu and the materials to be used have also been specified.

Altogether, about 60 lakh school children are benefited by the midday meal scheme.