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2018 DIGILAW 229 (CAL)

Abeda Bibi Dalanetri v. State of West Bengal

2018-02-07

BISWANATH SOMADDER, MOUSHUMI BHATTACHARYA

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JUDGMENT : Biswanath Somadder, J. 1. By consent of the parties, the appeal is treated as on day's list and taken up for consideration along with the application for stay. 2. On 15th January, 2018, we had passed the following order :- "The instant appeal arises out of the judgment and order dated 5th September, 2017, passed by a learned Single Judge in W.P. 22783(W) of 2017 (Abeda Bibi Dalanetri and represented of Swadeshi Swanirbhar Group vs. The State of West Bengal & Ors.) The appellant before us was the writ petitioner whose writ petition stood dismissed in terms of the said order. We notice from the impugned judgment and order that the appellant/writ petitioner, being a Self-Help Group, was engaged for preparing midday meals for the students of Kulgachhi Primary School. Vide order dated 27th September, 2016, issued by the Block Development Officer, Nalhati - I Development Block Nalhati, District - Birbhum, the writ petitioner's engagement has been curtailed. The reasons for such curtailment are required to be spelt out by the concerned authority of the State by filing a report in the form of affidavit on or before the next date. List this matter a fortnight hence for further consideration under the same heading." 3. Consequently, a report in the form of an affidavit was filed in Court on 5th February, 2018 on behalf of the concerned authority of the State. The said report reveals, inter alia, that on the basis of an order issued by the concerned Block Development Officer, the Self-Help Group of the appellant - Abeda Bibi Dalanetri is now engaged in preparing cooked midday meal on a rotational basis of one month per group covering six Self-Help Groups which includes the Self-Help Group headed by the appellant. 4. In such circumstances, we do not find any justifiable reason to interfere with the impugned judgment and order dated 5th September, 2017 passed by the learned Single Judge. However, before we proceed to dismiss the appeal and application for stay - based on the report in the form of an affidavit filed in connection with the instant matter - we wish to make certain observations with regard to the Midday Meal Scheme which is currently in force in our State, only in order to make the scheme more effective. Moushumi Bhattacharya, J. 5. Moushumi Bhattacharya, J. 5. In the course of going through the Report by way of an affidavit filed by the Block Development Officer (BDO), Nalhati-I Development Block, District - Birbhum (respondent No. 5 in the writ petition), our attention was drawn to several factors. First, the engagement of Self Help Groups (SHGs) for preparing midday meals for students of Kulgachi Primary School was done on a purely temporary basis with the concerned authority reserving the right to terminate such arrangement without mentioning any reason thereof. The BDO has stated in the Report that these SHGs are made up of uneducated women from socio-economically deprived classes. Second, it also appears from the Report that by simultaneously engaging several such SHGs, preparation of midday meal was disrupted and as a result of that the students of the primary school were deprived of this facility. In fact, we are surprised to note that in some cases the police had to intervene to prevent a breakdown of the law and order situation in the concerned village area because of dispute amongst the SHGs. 6. Although the Report does not establish a causal relationship between the engagement with effect from 1st May 2017 of six different SHGs on a monthly rotation basis for preparation of midday meals for Kulgachi Primary School and the need for police intervention to bring the law and order situation under control, it is an admitted position that the existing state of affairs with regard to the engagement of SHGs for preparation of midday meals in primary schools in several districts of West Bengal requires appropriate administrative intervention and supervision on an urgent basis to ensure superior administration of the Midday Meal Scheme in primary schools across the State. The concerned authorities (the respondent Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 being the specific respondents for Rampurhat/Birbhum districts) should be reminded that one of the most important purposes of introducing the Midday Meal Scheme in primary schools across India was to essentially encourage parents to send their children to school; and for the children to look to the midday meal as an important incentive for attending school. It would indeed be unfortunate if the concerned authorities fail to expeditiously bring the existing disorderly situation under control and thereby ensure that the Midday Meal Scheme in primary schools is administered in a proper way. It would indeed be unfortunate if the concerned authorities fail to expeditiously bring the existing disorderly situation under control and thereby ensure that the Midday Meal Scheme in primary schools is administered in a proper way. If in any way the intended ultimate beneficiaries of the Midday Meal Scheme - namely, the children attending primary schools - are neglected, deprived or served inadequate quantity or unacceptable quality of food, then the State Government should certainly intervene and do all it can to ensure its smooth administration. If the root cause of the present problem is literally that of "too many cooks (spoiling the broth)," leading to neglect of the ultimate beneficiary of the Midday Meal Scheme, then the State Government should certainly do all that is necessary to bring about an immediate improvement of the situation. 7. The respondent No. 1 should accordingly take note of the Report filed by the BDO pursuant to the direction given by this Court on 15th January 2018, and address all the concerns expressed above in an expeditious manner. For instance, we understand that the Midday Meal Scheme of one of the States was recognized as being one of the most successful and transparent in the country with an enrolment of 97.71% of students in Government and Government aided schools, both primary and upper primary sections, being covered by the said scheme. It may also not be out of place to mention that a "noon feeding committee" convenes monthly meetings to look into matters relating to the quality of ingredients for the midday meals that are purchased and also the taste of the food being served in the schools. It is a suggestion of this Court to the concerned authorities of the State who are responsible for administering the Midday Meal Scheme to consider benchmarking some of the good attributes of the Midday Meal Scheme of other States and, if feasible, incorporate them in the Midday Meal Scheme of our State. The Court : 8. Let a copy of this judgment be transmitted to the Chief Secretary and the Judicial Secretary, Government of West Bengal, by the learned Registrar General of this Court so that corrective measures can be introduced by the State of West Bengal in the light of the above. 9. The appeal and the application for stay are liable to be dismissed subject to the above observations and stand accordingly dismissed.