Fund misuse charge: Centre orders review of PM-Poshan scheme in West Bengal

In a statement, the Education Ministry said that the mission formed for West Bengal will examine various aspects of the implementation of mid-day meal of PM-Poshan scheme ranging from “fund flow from state to schools” to “convening the meetings of district-level committee under chairpersonship of senior most Member of Parliament”.

To be sure, the terms of references are in tune with the guidelines. However, it also assumes significance as Adhikari’s letter to Pradhan coincided with the decision of the Mamata Banerjee government to add meat and seasonal fruits to the mid-day meal menu.

The announcement, which comes ahead of the panchayat elections in the state where the BJP is trying to make inroads, triggered a political row. And the formation of the joint mission is set to escalate the tensions between the state and the Centre.

The Education Ministry said that the JRM includes officials from the Centre, state, and nutrition experts. Its terms of reference include “reviewing” the fund flow from state to schools, delivery mechanism of food grains, and identification of children who are undernourished and over nourished.

Under the scheme, renamed as PM-Poshan last year, most components including cooking cost are split in a 60:40 ratio between the Union government and the states and UTs with legislatures, and 90:10 with the Northeastern states, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The cost of food grains is borne entirely by the Centre.

In his letter to Pradhan on January 5, Adhikari had alleged that “irregularities” in PM-Poshan was “one of the biggest scams” in West Bengal. “The misappropriation of the funds granted by the Central government in this regard has been systematically diverted unethically by the state government on a regular basis to serve their own interests,” he had alleged.