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Letter
Sonia
Gandhi writes to PM on Mid-Day Meal Scheme
Smt.
Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha), sent the
following communication to the Prime Minister on June 11.
Dear
Prime Minister,
Please
refer to my D.O. letter no. 2955/LOP/LS/VIP/2003 dated May
21, 2003 in which I had requested you to double the allocations
to the States under the Sampoorna Gramin Rozgar Yojana for
the months of May, June and July 2003 as ordered by the
Supreme Court. Having received no response, I am unaware
if anything has been done in this regard. The month of June,
in the meantime, is half over.
I
am writing today on the related issue of the Mid Day Meal
Scheme (MDMS). In the recent meeting of the Congress Chief
Ministers at Srinagar, the Chief Ministers were almost unanimous
in suggesting that, given the huge stocks of foodgrains
with the Central Government, the coverage of this scheme
should be expanded. In specific terms, the following two
suggestions were received :
1.
The MDMS should be extended to cover children at the upper-primary
level (classes VI to VII). It is at this level that the
highest rates of drop-out are seen among girl children and
children of SC/ST families. The MDMS would provide an excellent
incentive to them for continuing their education while at
the same time extending nutritional cover.
2.
The MDMS should be continued during the summer vacation
period so that children could continue to receive nutritional
cover that would otherwise almost certainly be terminated
in the case of children of poor families because of the
prevailing drought conditions. During the vacation period
the State Governments could extend the scheme in the form
of dry rations to the families of the children through the
PDS network or through panchayats. I believe some of the
Congress Chief Ministers of drought-affected states have
already approached your Government in this regard.
I
am forwarding these two suggestions to you with the hope
that they would receive serious consideration on a priority
basis.
With
regards,
Yours
sincerely
(Sonia Gandhi)
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