Lok Sabha Question No. 138 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-17
Subject: Complaints Relating to Mid Day Meal Scheme
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: SATYA PAL SINGH, SANJAY SHAMRAO DHOTRE, K. C. VENUGOPAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 138 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.07.2017

## Complaints Relating to Mid Day Meal Scheme

## 138. DR. SATYAPAL SINGH: SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE: SHRI K.C. VENUGOPAL:

Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  review  its  Mid  Day  Meal  Scheme  (MDMS)  to  address  the increasing complaints of unhygienic and poor food quality served to the students under the scheme;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  number  of  such  complaints  received  by  the  Government during each of the last three years and the current year, State/ UT-wise;
- (c) whether there is a gap reported between sanctioned and utilized funds under the said scheme during the said period;
- (d) if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise and the reasons therefor along with the number of cases of irregularities/ corruption reported in implementation of the scheme across the country during the said period and the remedial action taken in such cases, State/UT-wise; and
- (e) the  steps  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  to  curb  malpractices  in  MDMS  and  to ensure the quality of food served ?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI UPENDRA KUSHWAHA)

(a) & (b): Under Mid Day Meal Scheme, hot cooked meals are provided to 9.78 crore children in 11.43 lakh institutions on an average basis on every working day of the school during the year 2016-17.  Despite this scale of operations, only 113 complaints on substandard quality of food served to the children were reported from various States and Union Territories during the last three years and the current year. Respective State Governments/UT Administrations were requested to furnish Action Taken Report (ATR) in the matter. As per ATRs received from

States/UTs,  action  such  as  issuing  warning  against  the  official  responsible,  terminating  the  contract  of concerned NGOs/Organisations,  initiating criminal proceedings and imposing  penalties against the defaulting persons/organisations have been taken by the concerned State Governments/UT Administrations. The State/UT-wise details of complaints on substandard quality of food served to the children and action taken thereon during each of the last three years and the current year is given at Annexure-I.

(c)  &  (d):  The  State/UT-wise  details  of  funds  sanctioned  and  utilized  during  the  last  3  years  is  given  at Annexure-II. The unutilized amount of funds in a particular financial year is adjusted against fresh release of  grant  in  next  financial  year.    The  State/UT-wise  details  of  complaints  on  irregularities  /  corruption reported in implementation of the scheme and action taken thereon during each of the last three years and the current year is given at Annexure-III.

(e):  The Government has adopted an elaborate monitoring mechanism at Central, State and District levels to curb  malpractices  and  to  ensure  the  quality  of  food  served  under  the  scheme.  At  national  level,  an Empowered Committee, headed by Minister of HRD, a National level Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee (NSMC) and Programme Approval Board (PAB), both headed by Secretary (School Education & Literacy), evaluate the performance of each State and UT in implementation of the Scheme and suggest measures for its  smooth and effective implementation, which is a continuous process.   At the State level, a State level Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee headed by the State Chief Secretary and, at District Level, a District Level Committee under the Chairpersonship of the senior-most Member of Parliament of Lok Sabha of the district  monitors  the  implementation  of  the  scheme  in  the  concerned  District.    At  local  level  Gram Panchayats/Gram Sabhas, members of Village Education Committees (VECs), Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs)  and  the  School  Management  Committees  (SMCs)  are  required  to  monitor  the  regularity  and wholesomeness  of  the  mid-day  meal  served  to  children,  cleanliness  in  cooking  and  serving  of  the  meal, timeliness in procurement of good quality ingredients, fuel, etc., implementation of variety in menu so as to make it attractive to children and ensuring social and gender equity on  daily basis.   In addition, the Centre constitutes Joint Review Missions (JRMs) consisting of educational and nutritional experts, which review the  scheme  through  field  visits  from  time  to  time.    The  reports  of  JRMs  are  shared  with  concerned States/UTs for taking corrective action on the findings.

Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  to  part  (a)  &  (b)  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  138  for 17.07.2017 raised by DR. SATYAPAL SINGH, SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE, SHRI K.C. VENUGOPAL regarding Complaints Relating to Mid Day Meal Scheme

## (a) State-wise and year-wise details of complaints on poor quality of meals served under MDMS during last 3 years and current year

| Sl No.   | State/UT         | 2014   | 2015   | 2016   | 2017   |   TOTAL |
|----------|------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|---------|
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh   | 2      |        | 1      |        |       3 |
| 2        | A& N Islands     | 1      |        |        |        |       1 |
| 3        | Assam            |        | 1      |        |        |       1 |
| 4        | Bihar            | 9      | 7      | 2      |        |      18 |
| 5        | Chandigarh       |        | 1      |        |        |       1 |
| 6        | Chhattisgarh     | 3      | 1      | 1      |        |       5 |
| 7        | Delhi            | 2      | 5      | 1      | 1      |       9 |
| 8        | Gujarat          | 1      | 1      |        | 1      |       3 |
| 9        | Goa              |        | 1      |        |        |       1 |
| 10       | Haryana          | 1      |        | 1      | 1      |       3 |
| 11       | Himachal Pradesh |        | 1      |        |        |       1 |
| 12       | J&K              |        |        | 1      |        |       1 |
| 13       | Jharkhand        | 3      | 2      | 2      |        |       7 |
| 13       | Karnataka        | 3      |        |        |        |       3 |
| 14       | Madhya Pradesh   | 3      | 3      |        |        |       6 |
| 15       | Maharashtra      | 2      | 5      | 2      |        |       9 |
| 16       | Odisha           | 4      | 2      | 1      |        |       7 |
| 17       | Punjab           |        |        | 1      | 1      |       2 |
| 18       | Tamil Nadu       |        |        |        | 1      |       1 |
| 19       | Telangana        | 1      |        | 1      |        |       2 |
| 20       | Tripura          |        | 1      |        |        |       1 |
| 21       | Uttarakhand      |        |        |        |        |       0 |
| 22       | Uttar Pradesh    | 6      | 14     | 5      |        |      25 |
| 23       | West Bengal      |        | 1      | 2      |        |       3 |
|          | Total            | 41     | 46     | 21     | 5      |     113 |

- (b) Abstract of action taken on above complaints

|   S No. | Type of Action                                                                                                                            |   2014 |   2015 |   2016 | 2017   |   Total |
|---------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|---------|
|       1 | Reply awaited                                                                                                                             |      5 |     14 |     13 | 5      |      37 |
|       2 | Under enquiry/ investigation at State level                                                                                               |      3 |      2 |      0 |        |       5 |
|       3 | Departmental action (including warning, transfer, suspension) and action against service providers/complaint substantiated by State Govt. |     17 |     18 |      8 |        |      43 |
|       4 | General corrective action, including issue of instructions to the concerned, by State Govt./Government of India.                          |      7 |      7 |      0 |        |      14 |
|       5 | Baseless, not proved, not related toMDM                                                                                                   |      9 |      5 |      0 |        |      14 |
|       6 | Total                                                                                                                                     |     41 |     46 |     21 | 5      |     113 |

Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  to  part  (c)  &  (d)  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  138  for 17.07.2017 raised by DR. SATYAPAL SINGH, SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE, SHRI K.C. VENUGOPAL regarding Complaints Relating to Mid Day Meal Scheme

## Central Assistance Sanctioned and Utilized under Mid-Day Meal Scheme during the last three years (Rs. In Lakh)

| S. No.   | States/Uts        | Central Assistance Released/ Sanctioned   | Utilization   | Central Assistance Released/ Sanctioned   | Utilization   | Central Assistance Released/ Sanctioned   | Utilization   |
|----------|-------------------|-------------------------------------------|---------------|-------------------------------------------|---------------|-------------------------------------------|---------------|
|          |                   | 2014-15                                   | 2014-15       | 2015-16                                   | 2015-16       | 2016-17                                   | 2016-17       |
| 1        | Andhra Pradesh    | 31556.76                                  | 31090.81      | 29064.76                                  | 31090.81      | 24402.16                                  | 27212.21      |
| 2        | Arunachal Pradesh | 3351.71                                   | 3283.49       | 3273.34                                   | 3325.81       | 3355.92                                   | 3238.96       |
| 3        | Assam             | 47985.16                                  | 53411.93      | 55376.49                                  | 56189.58      | 54846.72                                  | 11869.44      |
| 4        | Bihar             | 136532.1                                  | 140647.23     | 120013.29                                 | 116326.26     | 114257.02                                 | 102997.04     |
| 5        | Chhattisgarh      | 31564.09                                  | 35760.45      | 26991.77                                  | 30997.98      | 29196.57                                  | 29237.64      |
| 6        | Goa               | 1403.61                                   | 1578.86       | 1297.2                                    | 1259.22       | 1230.38                                   | 1219.59       |
| 7        | Gujarat           | 44783.33                                  | 45366.71      | 38053.3                                   | 41360.83      | 40756.01                                  | 32466.00      |
| 8        | Haryana           | 16398.99                                  | 15358.13      | 12382.8                                   | 13660.58      | 11539.51                                  | 13935.32      |
| 9        | Himachal Pradesh  | 7460.91                                   | 7544.43       | 8141.23                                   | 8013.43       | 8028.63                                   | 8516.12       |
| 10       | Jammu& Kashmir    | 6203.3                                    | 7650.404      | 8366.3                                    | 12838.95      | 11393.26                                  | 7796.13       |
| 11       | Jharkhand         | 21508.92                                  | 36332.05      | 24518.16                                  | 31050.97      | 38196.77                                  | 31697.22      |
| 12       | Karnataka         | 56610.57                                  | 59165.6       | 41939.61                                  | 53949.29      | 43937.98                                  | 44603.00      |
| 13       | Kerala            | 22575.34                                  | 22623.77      | 17120.97                                  | 18061.21      | 17781.46                                  | 19252.25      |
| 14       | Madhya Pradesh    | 79567.82                                  | 76947.5       | 60698.68                                  | 64774.38      | 65741.79                                  | 70513.81      |
| 15       | Maharashtra       | 95059.83                                  | 116062.05     | 103072.93                                 | 88776.04      | 70686.68                                  | 80581.67      |
| 16       | Manipur           | 3281.86                                   | 2286.05       | 2452.83                                   | 2570.57       | 2691.66                                   | 2507.92       |
| 17       | Meghalaya         | 6247.18                                   | 6211.95       | 7024.57                                   | 6932.29       | 6239.53                                   | 6609.54       |
| 18       | Mizoram           | 2049.78                                   | 1859.55       | 2060.99                                   | 1894.88       | 2017.24                                   | 2004.34       |
| 19       | Nagaland          | 4226.96                                   | 2679.41       | 1073.68                                   | 2030.77       | 2423.56                                   | 2129.31       |
| 20       | Orissa            | 49303.55                                  | 51824.23      | 39731.89                                  | 45522.01      | 43841.08                                  | 42267.63      |
| 21       | Punjab            | 13500.81                                  | 19084.34      | 16650.04                                  | 15673.96      | 13773.43                                  | 14773.91      |
| 22       | Rajasthan         | 41757.13                                  | 49361.93      | 41934.63                                  | 43288.83      | 45451.46                                  | 41685.96      |
| 23       | Sikkim            | 1040.14                                   | 1203.99       | 1001.38                                   | 969.09        | 899.13                                    | 947.44        |
| 24       | Tamil Nadu        | 63991.1                                   | 63061.73      | 44253.83                                  | 43730.98      | 42846.05                                  | 42989.63      |
| 25       | Telangana         | 20114.42                                  | 21567.02      | 17435.58                                  | 18616.27      | 18085.87                                  | 16991.58      |
| 26       | Tripura           | 4827.01                                   | 5085.171      | 5129.42                                   | 5154.14       | 5279.73                                   | 5145.88       |
| 27       | Uttarakhand       | 8931.74                                   | 8678.57       | 10419.33                                  | 10162.62      | 8483.19                                   | 9886.70       |
| 28       | Uttar Pradesh     | 105142.49                                 | 117628.94     | 86192.86                                  | 103567.54     | 101736.19                                 | 98931.05      |
| 29       | West Bengal       | 109189.56                                 | 113916.42     | 75582.33                                  | 109107.37     | 106921.55                                 | 94713.17      |
| 30       | A&N Islands       | 322.2                                     | 276.27        | 281.46                                    | 183.42        | 415.17                                    | 385.89        |
| 31       | Chandigarh        | 810.479                                   | 486.57        | 756.43                                    | 694.19        | 819.3                                     | 644.19        |
| 32       | D&N Haveli        | 409.772                                   | 425.63        | 569.38                                    | 521.01        | 638.51                                    | 627.65        |
| 33       | Daman &Diu        | 213.31                                    | 183.8         | 272.37                                    | 263.06        | 284.48                                    | 167.54        |
| 34       | Delhi             | 7892.3                                    | 12308.585     | 9449.23                                   | 7903.88       | 9075.93                                   | 8408.28       |
| 35       | Lakshadweep       | 108.81                                    | 87.09         | 127.04                                    | 85.18         | 127.60                                    | 81.54         |
| 36       | Puducherry        | 597.7                                     | 587.29        | 520.77                                    | 673.73        | 459.94                                    | 60.11         |
| TOTAL    | (In Lakhs)        | 1046521                                   | 1131628       | 913231                                    | 991221        | 947861                                    | 877096        |

Annexure-III Annexure  referred  to  in  reply  to  part  (c)  &  (d)  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.  138  for 17.07.2017 raised by DR. SATYAPAL SINGH, SHRI SANJAY DHOTRE, SHRI K.C. VENUGOPAL regarding Complaints Relating to Mid Day Meal Scheme (a) State-wise and year-wise details of complaints on irregularities/corruption reported in implementation of the scheme during last 3 years and current year

| Sl. No.   | State/UT          | Misappropriation   | Misappropriation   | Misappropriation   | Misappropriation   | Irregularities   | Irregularities   | Irregularities   | Irregularities   | Total   |
|-----------|-------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|------------------|---------|
| Sl. No.   | State/UT          | 2014               | 2015               | 2016               | 2017               | 2014             | 2015             | 2016             | 2017             | Total   |
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh    | 0                  |                    |                    |                    |                  | 2                | 2                |                  | 4       |
| 2         | Arunachal Pradesh |                    | 1                  |                    |                    |                  |                  |                  |                  | 1       |
| 3         | Assam             | 1                  |                    |                    | 1                  | 3                | 3                | 5                |                  | 13      |
| 4         | Bihar             | 10                 | 4                  | 8                  | 1                  | 1                | 2                | 4                | 2                | 32      |
| 5         | Chhattisgarh      |                    |                    |                    |                    |                  |                  | 3                |                  | 3       |
| 6         | Delhi             | 2                  | 1                  |                    | 1                  |                  | 1                | 1                |                  | 6       |
| 7         | Haryana           | 3                  | 2                  | 1                  |                    | 2                |                  |                  |                  | 8       |
| 8         | Jharkhand         | 2                  |                    |                    |                    |                  | 4                | 1                |                  | 7       |
| 9         | Karnataka         |                    |                    |                    |                    |                  | 1                |                  |                  | 1       |
| 10        | Kerala            |                    |                    |                    |                    | 1                |                  |                  |                  | 1       |
| 11        | Madhya Pradesh    | 1                  | 1                  | 1                  |                    |                  | 1                | 3                |                  | 7       |
| 12        | Maharashtra       |                    | 1                  | 1                  | 1                  |                  |                  |                  |                  | 3       |
| 13        | Odisha            |                    | 1                  | 2                  | 1                  |                  |                  | 1                | 1                | 6       |
| 14        | Punjab            |                    | 2                  | 1                  |                    | 1                |                  |                  |                  | 4       |
| 15        | Rajasthan         | 1                  | 1                  | 1                  | 2                  |                  | 1                | 1                |                  | 7       |
| 16        | Telangana         | 1                  |                    |                    |                    |                  |                  |                  |                  | 1       |
| 17        | Uttarakhand       | 1                  | 1                  |                    |                    | 1                |                  |                  |                  | 3       |
| 18        | Uttar Pradesh     | 10                 | 12                 | 9                  | 6                  | 4                | 4                | 13               | 3                | 61      |
| 19        | West Bengal       | 2                  | 3                  | 4                  | 1                  |                  | 1                | 2                |                  | 13      |
|           | Total             | 34                 | 30                 | 28                 | 14                 | 13               | 20               | 36               | 6                | 181     |

(b) Abstract of action taken on above complaints

| S. No.   | Type of Action                                                                                                                            | 2014   | 2014   | 2015   | 2015   | 2016   | 2016   | 2017   | 2017   | Total   |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|---------|
|          |                                                                                                                                           | Misap  | irre   | Misap  | irre   | Misap  | irre   | Misap  | irre   |         |
| 1        | Reply awaited                                                                                                                             | 21     | 7      | 23     | 11     | 24     | 26     | 13     | 6      | 131     |
| 2        | Under enquiry/ investigation at State level                                                                                               | 3      | 0      |        |        | 0      | 0      |        |        | 3       |
| 3        | Departmental action (including warning, transfer, suspension) and action against service providers/complaint substantiated by State Govt. | 1      | 1      | 1      | 1      | 0      | 1      |        |        | 5       |
| 4        | General corrective action, including issue of instructions to the concerned, by State Govt./Government of India.                          | 2      | 3      | 2      | 4      | 1      | 4      |        |        | 16      |
| 5        | Baseless, not proved, not related toMDM                                                                                                   | 7      | 2      | 4      | 4      | 3      | 5      | 1      |        | 26      |
| 6        | Total                                                                                                                                     | 34     | 13     | 30     | 20     | 28     | 36     | 14     | 6      | 181     |
| 7        | Overall number of complaints received.                                                                                                    | 47     | 47     | 50     | 50     | 64     | 64     | 20     | 20     | 181     |