It has been over four months since schools across Maharashtra reopened after the summer break, but funds under the Prime Minister's Poshan Shakti Nirman Yojana (PM POSHAN), which provides daily midday meals to students from Classes 1 to 8, have not been disbursed yet. This has led to significant financial strain on principals of schools located in rural parts of Maharashtra as they are forced to spend from their pockets to ensure students are served midday meals. The scheme, which covers students in government-run and aided schools, ensures the supply of food grains by the Government to schools. However, associated costs such as those for fuel, vegetables, and supplementary nutrition are to be reimbursed monthly to schools. Grants amounting to Rs 2.59 per student for Classes 1 to 5 and Rs 3.88 for Classes 6 to 8, which are covered in this reimbursement process, have not been disbursed since June. Vijay Kombe, president of the Maharashtra Rajya Prathamik Shikshak Samiti—a statewide organisation of government school teachers—said the problem was limited to schools in the rural areas, where each school is individually responsible for providing midday meals, unlike in urban areas, where centralised kitchens serve multiple schools. “The centralised kitchens already have all supplies and are periodically reimbursed for the funds, whereas schools in rural parts need to be provided with funds regularly. The cost, covering all children studying in schools, is sizeable and the school principals or teachers are forced to bear it at this moment. And the amount pending for over four months is even bigger,” said Kombe, adding that the association had written to the state government seeking immediate disbursement of the funds. A school education department official looking into the midday meal scheme said, “The funds coming from the Central Government had been pending, leading to the delay in reimbursement. Now the funds have been received, and the schools will be reimbursed soon.”
