Mohali-Mohali MLA Kulwant Singh raised the issue of mid-day meals during Zero Hour in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha on Monday, asking Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains when children in Nursery and Lower Kindergarten (LKG) classes would also begin receiving meals under the scheme.
Addressing the Speaker, Kulwant Singh said students from UKG to Class VIII were provided mid-day meals in schools, but children in Nursery and LKG, who sit alongside students of these classes, were excluded from the scheme.
He said that when LKG students were dismissed and the announcement for lunch was made, younger children began wondering why they were not being served meals. They could even feel that their teachers were discriminating against them, he added.
Responding to the question, Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains acknowledged that Kulwant Singh had raised an important issue.
He said schools earlier had Pre-Primary I and Pre-Primary II classes, but these had now been reorganised on the lines of private schools, with Nursery, LKG and UKG brought under the same platform.
However, the Centre had changed the rules governing the scheme, the minister said. Earlier, funds were provided in advance, with the Centre and the Punjab government contributing their respective shares, enabling teachers to purchase items required for preparing mid-day meals.
Under the revised system, schools have been asked to submit bills after three months, which must then be approved before payments are released. This could leave schools waiting for as long as six months for reimbursement, he said.
Bains said that although the revised rules applied to other schemes as well, the mid-day meal issue concerned young children and the same rules should not apply to it.
He also pointed out that schools in Punjab sometimes had to close during periods of extreme heat and severe cold, underlining the importance of addressing the issue promptly.
The minister assured the House that he would work to resolve the matter soon.
Kulwant Singh has been raising issues of public importance during sessions of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, the press release noted.