Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Complete school construction on time, KBK Collectors told

The New Indian Express, Nov. 11, 2013
The State Government has asked the Collectors of KBK (undivided Kalahandi, Balangir and Koraput) districts to ensure timely construction and completion of school buildings under Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhiyan (RMSA).
  Official sources said, 650 schools will be constructed under the RMSA out of which majority are in KBK districts. Besides, the Collectors have also asked to ensure quality in mid-day meals provided to the school students.
  The Collectors have also been directed to complete construction of safe and fire- proof kitchen in schools as early as possible and ensure proper whitewashing and cleaning of existing kitchens.
Besides, all the guidelines on kitchen cleanliness, hygienic storage of food items, quality control measures in case of local procurement of food stuff, personal hygienic habits of cooks and students should also be monitored regularly. 
  Collectors have been asked to look into proper convergence of the departments, agencies and NGOs involved in the process.
At present, the agencies like Rural Water Supply Sanitation for drinking water, FCI for food grains, NRHM (students health care), UNICEF (nutrition consultancy), WFP (anaemia prevention), Save the Children Organisation (capacity building of teachers and students), Nandi Foundation (community kitchen) and Akshyapatra Foundation (community kitchen) are involved in implementation of the MDM scheme.
  According to official sources, Collectors have been advised to conduct committee meetings at district level regularly involving the respective MPs.
They have also been asked to constitute steering-cum-monitoring committees at district and block levels.
  It has been decided that the transport agents should be directly paid from the district account and no intermediary should be involved in the process.
Besides, the district administration has been asked to ensure that food stuff which does not conform to FAQ standard or the quality is unsatisfactory on appearance should not be accepted at school point.
  At present 54,21,728 children from Class I to VIII in 63,531 Government and Government-aided schools are being provided MDM for six days in a week.
A STEP AHEAD
■ 650 schools will be constructed under the RMSA out of which majority are in KBK districts
■ The Collectors have also been directed to complete construction of safe and fire-proof kitchens in schools

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