The Education Department believes that it is not feasible to deliver eggs to children’s homes in the current Corona period. Children studying in government schools of Jharkhand will now get dry ration rather than eggs or fruits. In fact, since October 2020, children studying in government schools have not been getting eggs.
Meanwhile, due to Corona, the government schools of Jharkhand have been closed since April of the year 2020. Due to the closure of schools, students have not been getting mid-day meals. Making an alternative arrangement, the state government has announced to provide 100 grams of rice per day for classes 1 to 5 and 150 grams of rice per day for classes 6 to 8. The order to send money to the students’ account, for them to buy eggs or fruits, is currently in cold storage due to the Corona pandemic. It seems Corona has not just put a lock on the government schools but also on the morsels of students.
According to Principal P Ranjan, in charge of Dhurva Middle School, rice has been distributed till March, but the schools have not yet received any guidelines regarding eggs or fruits. This means that other schools of the state, like this school, are waiting for the orders from Education Department.
From October 2020 till now, the students from government schools of Jharkhand, have neither received eggs nor fruits nor their money. Now the Education Department has decided to give dry ration instead of eggs and fruits, following the guidelines of the Government of India. According to the Secretary of Education Department, Rajesh Sharma, in the present scenario it is not possible to distribute eggs or fruits house to house. The department has started preparations to deliver dry rations to the children’s homes.
Moreover, not only Jharkhand, but the whole country is preparing to deal with the third wave of Corona. Young children are estimated to be at most risk from the third wave. In such a situation, it is a matter of concern as to how much protein will dry rations be able to provide to the students in place of eggs or fruit. The central and state governments need to think and understand.
