Many teachers are bringing disrepute to the Education Department in Telangana by consuming food served as part of the Mid Day Meal Scheme meant for students in government schools.
State Government is taking all measures for the successful implementation of its ambitious scheme to provide nutritious food to the students by providing fine rice in schools.
A team of Revenue department officials during their ‘Grama sandarshana’ in December last were shocked to see some of the children of Z.P. High School, Kodimial returning home during lunch time.
When the officials asked workers implementing Mid Day Meal scheme about the students’ absence, they were told that the food prepared for students was being consumed mostly by teachers, sources said.
Govt. instructions
Though, the State Government had given clear instructions that only one teacher or headmaster of the school should only taste the food to check the quality, many of the teachers do not carry their lunch boxes and consume food prepared for students.
Ironically, the mid-day meal workers are asked to first serve food in dishes at the teachers’/staff room even before it is served to students.
Some of the government school teachers in rural areas even warn the workers of dire consequences if they do not prepare special dishes on special occasions.
In some schools, the teachers even instruct the implementing agencies to prepare sweets to be distributed to students during national holidays like Independence Day and Republic Day.
The headmasters say that the teachers threaten them if they do not allow them to eat the food prepared for students.
The teachers suggest to them to increase the number of students in the list by adding the names of even absentees, they added.
Unethical practice
The TRTF district president M. Prathap Reddy said that it was unfair and unethical on the part of teachers to eat the food prepared for poor students when they were getting good salaries.
Lok Satta district president N. Srinivas said that it was a criminal offence and urged the government to register criminal cases against the teachers for violating the norms of the mid-day meal scheme.
