Published by: Sukanya Nandy
Last updated: Oct 16, 2023 5:10 PM IST
The matter has been posted for further hearing on Wednesday (representative image)
The comment came in response to a plea by a leading organization of teachers that approached the Court seeking intervention in the case
The Kerala High Court on Monday ruled that if the mid-day meal scheme in government-run schools is a collaboration between the Center and the state, then why should the school principals bear this burden.
The comment came in response to a plea by a leading organization of teachers that approached the Court seeking intervention in the case.
Particularly with the state government reeling under a massive cash crunch that has led to pending arrears of around Rs 163 crore, numerous government school heads have been forced to bear the cost of the mid-day meal scheme.
When the counsel for the state government informed that the funds from the Center were not coming on time, the Court said, “If that is the case, remove the name of the Center from the name of the scheme and call it as Head The scheme of the minister.”
This has long been a major problem for the principals of the state schools because due to the long delay in the arrival of funds from the state government to the schools so that the school children could have midday meals, the responsibility lay with the teachers and they financed it from their pockets.
Although the teachers found it too difficult to pay the costs out of their own pockets, this became a major problem and a leading organization of teachers approached the Court seeking intervention.
The counsel for the state government informed the Court that steps have now been taken to distribute Rs 81 crore to the schools soon.
The case was posted for further hearing on Wednesday.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – IANS)
