KOHIMA, OCTOBER 31: In a first, in the State, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Government and an NGO, Department of School Education and Eleutheros Christian Society (ECS), Tuensang, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for implementation of Mid-Day Meal (MDM) in Tuensang district in the conference hall of the Chief Secretary, Nagaland Civil Secretariat Kohima, on October 31.
The State government was represented by Commissioner and of School Education, FP Solo and ECS was represented by Secretary of ECS Rev. Dr. Chingmak Chang. The MoU will be valid for a period of three years from the date of signing on a trial basis.
According to the MoU, ECS, in accordance with the objectives of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) of the government of India, Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), New Delhi, and on recommendations of the State Level Steering and Monitoring Committee (SLSMC) for MDM, have been identified by the Department to be the Nodal Agency through which the scheme will be implemented in Tuensang district on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode as per prescribed procedure. The MDM will be provided regularly to all government schools from Classes I to VII in Tuensang district.ECS shall observe the guidelines of MDMS issued by the government of India MHRD, Department of School Education and Implementation Manual developed by the department. There will be state, district and block Steering and Monitoring Committee (SMC). At the village level, a MDM Committee will be formed comprising of church, SHG federation, VEC, mothers, parents forum and the ECS as members.
The present unit costs for each component, subject to revision by the GOI, for 220 working days excluding holidays are – cooking cost for Primary- Rs 4.13ps per day/child and for upper primary- Rs 6.18 ps per day/child for which the initial payment will be released immediately after the signing of the MoU. The DEO will inspect 20% of all schools in a year and the SDEO will make monthly inspections of 10% of schools under its jurisdiction. Adequate distribution and provision of rice will be overseen by the DEO/SDEO. Head of Institution/ School Management Committee/ Village Education Committee should co-operate and provide assistance to ECS as per provisions of the MoU.
In his introductory speech, FP Solo said the signing of the MOU was ‘historic’ and the success of which will lead to the implementation of the PPP mode of providing MDMS in other districts as well. In regard to the various controversies surrounding the MDMS, he said transparency and accountability needs to be looked into for which the co-operation between the government and head of institution/school management committee was necessary. He also stressed on accurate U-DISE figure of the students enrolled to ensure proper implementation of the MDMS.
Rev. Dr. Chingmak Chang said for the implementation of MDM in a district like Tuensang, where connectivity becomes a constraint, centralised marketing system will be effective. He also said involvement of the community with the government will be beneficial.
