Headmaster arrested in Tripura for attempting to sell mid-day meal rice

Police Saturday arrested the headmaster of a school in Tripura for attempting to sell in the open market rice allotted for the mid-day meal scheme, an official said here.

"Uttam Kumar Bhattacharjee, headmaster of the Akshay Kumar Vidyalaya Junior Basic School, after lifting 200 kg rice from the godown in Khayerpur in western Tripura (15 km north of here), carried the rice to the local market instead of the school," a police officer said.

He said that local people detained the rickshaw by which the rice was being ferried, and informed police. The headmaster and the rickshaw puller were arrested, and the load of rice was seized.

Deputy speaker of the Tripura assembly Pabitra Kar, who was elected to from the Khayerpur area, asked the local administration to take stern and appropriate action against the offenders.

Tripura School Education Minister Tapan Chakraborty, while talking to reporters here, said that the state government had asked the general public and the parents and guardians of the children to supervise the mid-day meal scheme, so that the food served to schoolchildren is of good quality.