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Journalism of Courage
It is not just the Opposition that is opposing the cap on supply of subsidised LPG cylinders for domestic use. The HRD Ministry led by Kapil Sibal has sent a letter to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas seeking exemption from the rule.
The HRD Ministry has said that the six cylinder cap will hit the governments midday meal scheme,doubling its cost with an additional financial burden of Rs 652 crore per year. The letter sent by the ministrys school education department has requested the continued supply of subsidised LPG cylinders without any cap.
Arguing that such a huge financial burden would seriously compromise the scheme,the ministry has said the mandate to provide a hot cooked meal which is also nutritious will prove very challenging under these financial constraints.
Meanwhile,Petroleum Ministry officials said they seized of the issue and were looking at options.
At present,the HRD ministry spends over Rs 650 crore annually on the midday meal scheme,which is estimated to reach out to about 12 crore children in over 12.65 lakh primary and upper primary schools across the country.
While only 40 per cent schools have LPG connections currently,the Centre has already written to all state governments asking that all such schools should have LPG connections. This would mean that the ministrys additional financial burden due to the cap on LPG cylinders would increase from Rs 652 crore to Rs 1,630 crore per year.
Moreover,the government plans to scale up the midday meal scheme in the 12th plan,taking it to private unaided schools in tribal areas and educationally backward blocks.
Under the midday meal scheme,a primary student must be fed a meal equivalent to 450 calories and 12 gms protein,and an upper primary student must get a meal of 700 calories and 24 gms protein besides micro nutrients like iron,folic acid and vitamin A.
