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Under the Midday Meal Scheme, now PM Poshan, a single hot cooked meal is served to students up to Class VIII in government schools across India. (Representative photo: News18/file)
The Ministry of Education has written to the Government of West Bengal, requesting a detailed factual report to be submitted immediately
The center cited “serious financial anomalies” in the implementation of the Midday Meal Scheme (now PM Poshan) in West Bengal with the Ministry of Education writing to the state government to submit a report. One of the main irregularities raised was the transfer of funds under the scheme for polling purposes.
On Friday, the ministry wrote to the state government asking for a detailed factual report immediately. The letter highlights the “huge and inexplicable” balance amount of Rs 4,174 crore in the Single Nodal Account (SNA) earmarked for POSHAN’s funds disbursement.
“A mere glimpse of the money transfer indicates that the money for the midday meal under Chief Minister Bhushan is being used for a different purpose. However, paperwork made available on WhatsApp by state officials indicates that a dormant account is being used to transfer money for state elections,” This was stated in the ministry’s letter.
She further stated that it is possible that the allotments under the PM Poshan Scheme in the pre-PFMS days were being used for purposes other than the Scheme. “It is also surprising that a dormant bank account is used for financial transactions,” she said.
The letter also said that it was unclear how the balance in the SNA account had increased from Rs 1,542.17 crore to Rs 4,174.28 crore, while the state government acknowledged in January 2022 that the entire unused amount available in the bank account of all executing agencies had been transferred to the SNA.
“This appears to be a highly inconvenient situation, especially in the context of the above State Government undertaking,” the letter read.
In February, the Center asked the Controller and Auditor General (CAG) to conduct a special audit of the implementation of the PM Poshan Scheme in West Bengal. Under the scheme, students up to class eight are served one hot meal during school hours in government schools across the country.
In January, the ministry set up a joint review mission to check implementation of the scheme in the state with officials from Delhi to carry out inspections. The state government alleged that the center’s “political vendetta” was driving these attacks on it.
During the recent Parliament session, the Trinamool Congress leaders also alleged that the center had not released funds owed to the state under various welfare schemes.
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