Mid-day meal scheme: Supreme Court slaps fine on 5 states, Delhi
New Delhi, Dec 4 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday slapped a fine on five states and Delhi, saying they were "not taking seriously" the matter related to implementation of the mid-day meal scheme in schools.
The apex court directed states of Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Jammu and Kashmir to pay Rs one lakh each as costs for their failure to create an online link along with a chart meant for monitoring the implementation and hygiene of mid-day meal scheme in government-run schools.
Besides this, a bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur also slapped Rs two lakh as costs on Delhi for not providing the requisite information related to implementation of the scheme.
The bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Hemant Gupta, directed that the costs be deposited with the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee within four weeks.
"The mid-day meal scheme, which is of considerable benefit to the children in the country, is not being taken seriously by several states. Data has not been supplied and there are allegations made by the petitioner about foodgrains disappearing and not reaching the schools and thereby denying the benefit of mid-day meal scheme to children," the bench said.
"We have been trying to get the states to render assistance and to upload all the data so that necessary corrective steps can be taken from time to time. In spite of several of our orders, there has been little or no co-operation from some of the states," it said.
The bench said that on October 26, the states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Odisha had said they would comply with the requirements of the scheme and provide necessary online links but "more than a month has gone by and there has been absolutely no progress made by these states".
"Since the states have not supplied the necessary links or the details which are required for effective implementation of the scheme, we have been left with no option but to impose costs for this totally unnecessary adjournment and for effectively denying benefits to the children of their states to which they are entitled," the bench said.
The counsel appearing for Jammu and Kashmir said they have already created the online link but it was not working. "We do not see the value of a link that does not work," the court said and imposed Rs one lakh costs on Jammu and Kashmir.
The bench has posted the matter for further hearing after four weeks.
The apex court had earlier noted that two committees at national and state levels were suggested to be set up to monitor various aspects like maintaining hygiene in the mid-day meal schemes in schools.
The court was hearing a plea filed by NGO 'Antarrashtriya Manav Adhikaar Nigraani Parishad' in 2013 on the issue of mid-day meals.
The top court had on March 23 last year asked the state governments and Union Territories to upload the information including the total number of students getting benefit of the mid-day meal scheme within three months on their websites.
The PIL has claimed that in over 12 lakh government-run and aided schools across the country, children receive free, cooked lunch every day but "they are constantly exposed to the risk of food poisoning and related health hazards due to a lack of mid-day meal infrastructure and proper monitoring of the scheme".
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2 detained after comment over wedding procession to Dalit house sparks clash in UP's Shahjahanpur
Shahjahanpur (UP) (PTI): Two persons have been detained after a clash broke out allegedly over remarks targeting a Dalit family's wedding procession in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur district, police said on Saturday.
The incident occurred in Lai Kheda village under Tilhar police station area, where a wedding procession from Bareilly had arrived at a Dalit household on April 20.
According to SP Saurabh Dixit, when the procession was near the house of Rajpal Yadav, he allegedly made a remark saying "Now, Dalits will also take out wedding processions riding a buggy", leading to an argument. Yadav's side allegedly turned aggressive, escalating the conflict further.
Police said a scuffle ensued between the two sides. Upon receiving information, police personnel reached the spot and ensured that the procession was conducted peacefully after the incident.
An FIR was registered on Friday against Rajpal Yadav, Sumit, Amit, Surendra, Avdhesh Yadav and five unidentified persons based on a complaint. Rajpal Yadav and his son Sumit have been taken into custody and are being questioned, Dixit said.
The case has been registered under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, police said.
Dixit said preliminary findings suggest that Yadav, too, was hosting a function and processions from both sides had arrived around the same time. A dispute may have initially arisen due to a narrow passage and attempts to move the processions quickly.
Police have registered the case under relevant sections of the BNS and initiated further probe, officials said.
