PANAJI
The State Education Department is caught in a tight situation with a change in the entire system on fund distribution to self-help groups, as it handles a slew of allegations of delay in depositing money into the account of midday meal workers. Promoters of SHGs from five sub-districts have warned they would not be in a position to supply mid-day meals if the department fails to clear dues owed to them. In some cases, the pending amount runs into several lakhs.
The government officials have a different story to narrate explaining what led to the delay, which they claim is a temporary phase. “The delay in the release of funds is due to two main reasons. The Central government in March changed the entire system of distribution of funds wherein the department was directed to switch to the public financial management system (PFMS) portal. Secondly, the PFMS Monitoring Cell’s training was a complete farce, and our officials self-practiced to understand the system,” an official with the Education Department said.
Under the PFMS, the department had to open a new Zero Balance account under a single nodal agency unlike in the past when the bills from food suppliers were directly sent to the Account Department of the Government of Goa for clearance. “After opening a Zero balance account, we opened block-level accounts and so on. The Government of India, the Ministry of Education, and the Department of PM Poshan kept issuing circulars to the State Department to comply with the new circulars. We had to learn a lot considering it is a new system and no proper training was imparted by the PFMS Monitoring Cell except some online... This is despite our staff visiting their Centre located in the office of the Planning & Statistics numerous times expecting proper training,” the source revealed.
The education officials got acquainted with the portal’s functioning through self-practice two months ago. “By this time, we received the first installment of Rs 7.8 crore, which is also unusual as every year funds are received in May,” the source revealed. Most part of the payment has been released to the food suppliers while another major portion of dues will be cleared by November 4.
The Goa State Commission for Child Rights has intervened in the current impasse between SHGs and the education department, apprehending that if the issue isn’t resolved, there were chances that school attendance could drop in the coming days.
“The commission acknowledges the efforts of the Directorate of Education to expedite and resolve this, but the facts mentioned in the news report are alarming and hint at very serious issues which require long-term policy intervention. More than two decades have passed since the mid-day meal became a part of the daily routine in schools state-wide. In this long passage of time, procedures should have stabilized but hurdles continue to occur,” Commission chairperson Peter Borges said in a letter to the Education Department. It sought a 'compliance report' within 15 days.
