Kolkata, Oct. 2 -- The state School Education department has asked local administrations to take immediate action on issues identified during the ongoing social audit of the PM Poshan scheme and submit an action-taken report along with the audit findings.
The social audit is being carried out in 5,148 schools across the state by the Social Audit Unit, a wing of the Panchayat & Rural Development department. The exercise will continue till December.
Unlike in previous years, the department has asked Gram Panchayats, block development officers and district administrations to act on issues at the local level instead of merely forwarding the findings to the School Education department.
The audit will examine the quality and hygiene of food served under PM Poshan, besides checking allegations of financial irregularities. Officials have also been asked to seek the views of parents on the quality of the service.
"If there is an allegation of financial irregularity in a school, the local administration can lodge a complaint with the police. The School Education department will also have to be informed. Similarly, if there is a problem with the quality of food, the issue has to be resolved with the assistance of the local administration," a School Education department official said.
"Earlier, the report had to be sent to the department before action could be taken. Now, the local administration will take action at its level. The objective is to ensure that action is taken immediately," the official added.
According to the department, only issues that cannot be resolved at the local level will be referred to it. The move is aimed at reducing the time between the identification of an irregularity and corrective action.
Of the 5,148 schools being covered, 546 are in Murshidabad, 521 in West Midnapore, 425 in North 24-Parganas, 358 in Hooghly, 342 in Nadia and 314 in South 24-Parganas. Kolkata has 60 schools covered under the exercise.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.