Right to Food Campaign’ blamed the State Government for depriving lakhs of school children from midday meal at the time where most part of Jharkhand is reeling under intense drought. The organisation working for food security has cited different court orders and examples from other States in this direction.
“At a time when, all 24 districts of Jharkhand are dealing with drought, the state government appears to be in deep slumber. As per the Supreme Court order issued on April 20, 2004 in the right to food case (PUCl versus Union of India and Others, Writ Petition (Civil) 196 of 2001), midday meals are to be supplied even during summer vacations in drought affected areas. The court reiterated this instruction on May 13 in Swaraj Abhiyan versus Union of India and Others, Writ Petition (Civil) 857 of 2015,” reads a communique. Among the ten states of the country currently facing drought (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh) Jharkhand is the only state which has not taken any action to provide midday meals to children in the ongoing summer vacation, said the organisation.
“As per sources in the State Human Resource Department, the Department has not received any official notification of drought affected areas from the concerned department.
However, the Department of Home, Jail and Disaster Management notified the entire state as drought affected more than six months ago on December 10, 2015. While the state government bodies pass the buck to one another, children in Jharkhand are being denied midday meals,” it said.