5 PTAs willing to serve own mid-day meals

TEAM HERALD

teamherald@herald-goa.com

PANJIM: Parents-Teachers Associations (PTAs) of five schools have shown willingness to provide mid-day meals to the students by setting up their own kitchens, having already applied for the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) licence which is mandatory.

These schools are : Damodar Education Society, Gudi, Paroda; Lokmanya Tilak Vidyalaya, Kavlem,Ponda; Holy Cross High School, Quepem; Lokvishwas Pratishthan, Ponda and Ideal High School, Pilgao. 

Another two ~ Shree Balram Residential High School, Canacona and Jadeed Urdu High School are also in the process of setting up their kitchens.

Meanwhile, the Directorate of Education has deputed 10 accountants, absorbed under Goa Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, on working arrangement to different ADEI offices to maintain records and check the bills pertaining to the implementation of the mid-day meal programme of the government.

These accountants have been employed on contract till the end of the academic year with effect from 2nd December 2013.

With the deployment of these accountants, the bills of the self-help groups supplying the mid-day meals to the schools across the state are expected to be cleared at a very fast pace. Presently, the self-help groups have been complaining of delay in receiving payment from the department.

These accountants will be placed at ADEI offices in Bardez, Tiswadi, Pernem, Bicholim, Ponda, Salcete, Quepem, Murmugao, Canacona, Sanguem and Quepem.

It may be recalled that Human Resource Development Ministry’s midday meal monitoring agency for Goa – Centre for Development Communication and studies – that had surveyed over 30 schools each in north and south Goa districts between October 2011 and September 2012 had found that officials were not been regular in inspecting midday meals in schools.

The state had also been advised by the Centre to serve a different dish each day to students instead of providing pav-bhaji and pulao on alternate days and sheera once a week and pointed out that the nutritional value of the food needs to improve.