The Mid-day Meal Scheme (MDMS) has failed to achieve targets in Jharkhand. According to the report of Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday, there has been sharp decline in the enrollment of children in the schools where the mid-day meal was being served by the state government.
“The enrollment of children in the schools where MDMS are being run, decreased from 60.35 lakh to 50.80 lakh contrary to the enrollment of children in private schools where it increased from 8.94 lakh to 13.89 lakh during the period 2010-15,” said AG S Raman.
Moreover, the average attendance of children did not improve and it ranged from 48 to 55 per cent in primary level and declined from 60 per cent to 48 per cent in upper primary level during the period, added the AG.
“It implies that even the implementation of MDMS could not improve the average attendance of children in the primary and upper primary classes in the state,” Raman said.
Furthermore, it was revealed in the AG’s annual report that out of 35,435 units of kitchen to be constructed across the state, only 20,654 units got completed; 8396 units are under construction while construction of 6385 units are yet to take off.
“Neither any recognized institute or laboratory was engaged by the state government for testing of food samples during the period 2010-15,” said Raman.
The CAG report further revealed that due to non-utilization of funds under Implementation of Integrated Action Plan (IAP), central allocation of `495.81 crore could not be released by the Government of India to the state during 2013-15 and as a result, the State Government was deprived of central allocation of `495.81 crore.
Integrated Action Plan was launched in December 2010 in 82 tribal and backward districts of the country, including 17 districts of Jharkhand.
Non adherence to the condition of guidelines had led to excess payment of share of insurance of `93.03 crore against 1.72 hectares of unsown area under Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperative Department.
In another finding by the CAG, failure of Executive Engineers, Assistant Engineers and Junior Engineers to adhere to the provisions of Standard Bidding Documents in granting equipment advances to the contractors had resulted in the unauthorized payment of `4.14 crore to the contractors under Road Construction Department.
“Scrutiny of reports of the Executive Engineers, National Highways Division Chaibasa and Road Division lohardaga, revealed that `3.85 crore was paid to two contractors as equipment advance, out of which `2.99 crore was paid against tools and plants already in their possession before dates of agreement,” said Raman.
As per the conditions of the contract, contractor shall use the advance payment to pay for the equipment and plant required specifically for the execution of the works and shall demonstrate the same by supplying copies of the invoices or other documents to the employer, he added.
Similarly, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) paid `8.21 crore to the Junior and Senior Resident Doctors as non practicing allowance from its internal receipts without adhering to the provisions of RIMS Act, 2002.
It was noticed that entire expenditure of Transport Services (`466.18 crore), Energy Department (`50 crore) and Civil Aviation Department (`21.73 crore) was incurred in last month of the financial year 2014-15.