Mid-day meals scheme: Centre says fault lies with Kerala govt

NEW DELHI: Central and state governments continue to blame each other over the school mid-day meals scheme. Yesterday, the Ministry of Education came out with a social media post indicating that the fault lies with the Kerala government. Rs 132.9 crores of central share was transferred to the account of the state. This amount and the state share of Rs 76.78 crore were to be transferred to the state nodal account for the scheme, which didn't happen. Therefore, the Union Ministry of Education has informed through the official X account that further funds cannot be released. Education Minister V Sivankutty was also tagged in this post.

"An e-mail was sent to Kerala clarifying these matters on August 8. Matters were also informed in the meeting. We have requested to complete the necessary steps to transfer the funds. Minister V Sivankutty had earlier stated that the central government should pay 60 percent of the cost of rice for the school lunch scheme and the non-allocation of the first installment of Rs 170.59 crore for the current year is causing a crisis.