Not a 'sweet' start for milk scheme in Rajasthan

With the rollout of Annapurna Milk Scheme, which is set to be launched on July 2, the plight of the teachers of government schools in Rajasthan is going to increase. The reason behind their plight is the fact that while the teachers are strictly instructed under the scheme to ensure that schoolkids drink the milk provided, the state's education department has forgotten to allocate budget for sugar.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje had announced the scheme in the state budget this year. The scheme was drafted by the state education department, but it seems they forgot to add budget for sugar to add to the milk.

According to sources, the department officials failed to allocate additional budget to schools for purchasing sugar and the school management shall only distribute 'plain' milk to the kids.

"The department has allocated Rs 4,500 for gas connection, Rs 2,000 for utensils to each school besides budget for milk and glasses in the ratio of the students enrolled. However, no provision has been made for purchase of sugar," said a senior officer with the education department.

State education minister Vasudev Devnani and Mid-Day Meal Commissioner Ved Singh were not available to comment.

The scheme to provide students with milk thrice a week was brought in with the aim to increase enrolment in government schools and madrassas. Each student of classes 1 to 5 will be provided 150 ml milk while students of class 6 to 8 will be provided with 200 ml of milk under the scheme.