In Sattari, students were made victims of a political war. Over 900 students from nine schools in Sattari taluka were deprived of mid-day meals for two days and around 500 students are set to go without the meals. The self-help group Bhumika was told to stop supplying meals to these schools after a sudden FDA raid where health officials raised concerns over unhygienic condition of the kitchen. Interestingly, the Education Department was not informed about the raid neither were there any alternate arrangements in place to feed these students.
A notice was issued to Bhumika to immediately stop operations while also revoking the licence to supply mid-day meals to nine schools in the taluka. It's an open secret that Bhumika Self Help group had worked against Health Minister Vishwajit Rane and is understood to have campaigned for Roy Naik. It comes as a huge surprise that the FDA, which is directly under the Health Ministry, has suddenly handpicked a big self-help group out of 105 groups and hurriedly went ahead with revoking its licence. The decision to selectively crack down on Bhumika smacks of political vendetta. The sincerity of this raid can easily be questioned as procedures were not followed. There have been no complains of food-poisoning reported, nor was there a show-cause notice issued to the SHG before revoking its licence. The FDA has moved at amazing speed in this case. There have been instances in the past where lizards and cockroaches were found in food and yet it took days for authorities to initiate penal action.
The callousness towards the 500 students needs strongest condemnation. Why were there no alternate arrangements made for the students who had to go without mid-day meals for no fault of theirs? When there was a plan of action to crack down, why was there no alternate plan for the children to provide with meals?
The apathy of our system is so abject that the Director of Education Gajanan Bhat is still awaiting a letter from the FDA intimating him about the action taken against Bhumika. Till then he prefers to arrange some biscuits for the 500 students. The common argument that quality of food will not be compromised will not hold good in this case. In around Rs 7, the menu laid out by the self-help groups has been accepted by the government. You cannot expect a lavish buffet spread for that price.
The Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who also holds the education portfolio should step in. Such revenge politics where legislators try to settle scores once in power should stop. An investigation should be launched into what prompted the sudden raid and the followup action. Children cannot be made targets while those in the government are settling political scores.
