Maharashtra extends mid-day meal scheme

The Maharashtra Cabinet on Monday cleared the proposal to extend the mid-day meal scheme for students up to Std VIII from January 1. The decision will benefit nearly 4.4 lakh students in more than 2,000 primary and 900 middle schools.

The scheme will initially be implemented in the 10 most backward districts of the state, which includes tribal-dominated districts of Dhule, Nandurbar, Gadchiroli and Chandrapur.

Currently, the scheme is only for students up to Std V, studying in zilla parishad or municipal schools. Under the scheme, students will be served food which will contain 700 calories and 20 gm of proteins. The state government expects to incur an expenditure of Rs 7.48 crore in current fiscal.

The Cabinet also cleared the proposal to set up a separate minority department headed by official of the rank of principal secretary.

Welfare schemes related to religious and linguistic minorities in the state are run by various ministries. The creation of a separate department will bring all the schemes under one department and facilitate better implementation.

This department will handle works like regulation of state Haj committee, monitoring the work of minority-run educational institutes, implementation of Prime Minister's 15-point programme for minorities, monitoring and co-ordination of Maulana Azad Minority Welfare Corporation, and the Wakf board.