36 percent Govt schools in JK using timber firewood, other tools as a fuel to prepare MDM
Riyaz Bhat
Srinagar, July 18 (KNO): Strange but true is the fact that in Jammu and Kashmir, more than 36 percent of government-run-schools are using timber firewood and other tools to prepare the Mid-Day Meals (MDM) against the suggested Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)
The Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) in its Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWPB) said that 36.89 percent schools providing MDM to students were using smokeless Chulha, firewood and other tool as a fuel to prepare it while the 63.14 percent were using LPG.
According to the MHRD documents, a copy of which lies with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), out of 22205 schools, only 14021 were cooking meals by using LPG
The Jammu and Kashmir authorities in a reply to the queries of MHRD regarding the steps taken to provide LPG as fuel in MDM in all schools said: “Instructions were already conveyed to the department of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCSCA) to cover all leftover schools by providing LPG as fuel in MDM in all schools.”
The authorities also told MHRD that there were some schools located in remote and hilly areas where use of LPG is not feasible because of massive head load and therefore, “The timber is used for cooking of meals in those schools which has been found as the best alternative for those schools,” it reads.
The JK government also said that out of 11815 sanctioned kitchens-cum-store, the state has completed 7118 and the balance of 4697 kitchen cum-stores could not be completed within the existing rates prescribed by MHRD
In the financial year 2018-19, the JK government said it was using timber firewood as a major tool in at least 27 per cent of schools to prepare—(KNO)
