A cook serves the free mid-day meal, distributed by a government-run primary school, to children at Brahimpur village in Chapra district of the eastern Indian state of Bihar July 19, 2013. The midday meal scheme of giving school pupils a free lunch is the largest such programme in the world. It has been widely lauded as one of the most successful welfare measures in India, home to a quarter of the world's hungry, because it also boosts school enrolments and helps children to continue studies. For millions of poor families, the lunch is the only full meal their children eat in a day. That encourages them to send them to school, and not keep them home to help with chores. For this reason, despite being poorly managed, the scheme draws a lot of support from non-governmental organisations, rights activists and the United Nations. Picture taken July 19, 2013. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi (INDIA - Tags: HEALTH FOOD EDUCATION SOCIETY)
Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], Mar 24 (ANI): In a bid to provide relief to the poor amid an ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Chhattisgarh government on Tuesday issued a notification stating that rice and dal will be distributed to ration card holders, students and others. The directive came on the instructions of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel. School children will also be allocated their quota of grains as per the mid-day meal scheme during the holiday period. “Under this scheme, 40 days dry dal and rice will be supplied to the children of the school.
Each and every student of primary school will be given 4 kg of rice and 800 grams of dal and 6 kg of rice and 1200 grams of dal will be distributed to each student of higher secondary school,” the circular read. The time limit for renewal of a licence or permit has also been increased by a month in all urban bodies of the state. The last date for depositing property tax in urban bodies of the state has been extended from March 31 to April 31.
As a goodwill gesture, the Chhattisgarh government has decided to give special allowance to the staff of the Health Department engaged in the treatment of the coronavirus. The government has licensed two distilleries for industrial manufacture of alcohol-based hand sanitiser as part of measures to prevent coronavirus. (ANI)
