Naveen for more fund for mid-day meal

In the backdrop of soaring prices of essential commodities, Orissa Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik has asked Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh to take quick steps to increase fund allocation per child for the mid-day meal programme.

"Fund allocation was fixed in 2006 when the price of arhar dal was about Rs 32 per kg. Now its price is above Rs 70 per kg. Rise in the price of such an essential component of the meal severely impacted the programme," he said in a letter to the prime minister.

Patnaik said an immediate decision in the matter would go a long way towards removing a major bottleneck of of the mid-day meal programme.

The mid-day meal programme in schools is of national importance, even more important in the poorer regions of the country where it is a major meal for the students, he said adding that the meal must be in adequate quantity and without interruption.

Lamenting that the per-child norm under the programme is far too meagre at a time when the prices of essential commodities have increased manifold in recent months, patnaik sought immediate steps to address the issue.