Free egg scheme pinches headmasters' pockets in Karnataka schools

Kalaburagi: Headmasters of schools are footing the additional costs of procuring eggs to provide them under the mid-day meal scheme due to a mismatch between government fund allocation and the actual price in the market.

Officials claimed that the demand for eggs has skyrocketed following the decision to distribute them six days a week from September under the scheme, which is aimed at improving nutrition levels in children and increasing their enrolment. And with demand rising, so has the price, which has left headmasters with no option but to pay the difference from their own pocket.

When contacted, Commissioner for Public Instruction Trilok Chandra K V said they are "monitoring" such issues and "will address it locally" when it comes to their notice. 

The price of eggs in the market is hovering around Rs 6.50 per piece, but the government has fixed the procurement cost of each egg at Rs 6. This means that headmasters have to bear the additional expenses of 60-80 paise, including Rs 30 paise for peeling the egg as well as the transportation cost.

“We have purchased the egg by paying up to Rs 7 per piece,” said Mallayya Guttedar, in-charge headmaster of Honnakiranagi government primary school. 

According to Akash Shankar, Additional Commissioner, Department of School Education and Literacy, Kalaburagi Division, heavy demand has led to a spike in egg prices. "More than 15 lakh school children come under the mid-day meal scheme in our region," he pointed out, referring to the scale of the task before them.  

Around 9,000 heads of schools face extra burden due to the supply of free eggs, Shankar said.

Pushpalatha H K, Joint Director of PM POSHAN (Prime Minister's Overarching Scheme For Holistic Nourishment), claimed the distribution of eggs under mid-day meal scheme has been decentralised as it is a perishable product.

She said that “reports of financial or work burden on teachers" had come to their  knowledge" and said the decision on revision of egg rates by the government "will be taken in the future based on the market price”. 

The Azim Premji Foundation has joined hands with the government and is behind the push to provide eggs six days a week. The foundation has provided financial assistance of Rs 1,500 crore to supply eggs to 55 lakh students in over 53,000 government and aided schools in the state for a period of three years. The children have been receiving eggs under this initiative since September 25.

Veena P N, in-charge headmistress of government higher primary school coming under Varuna Assembly constituency in Mysuru district, claimed that mobilising additional funds to buy eggs had become a challenging task.

"There will be no problem in the supply of eggs if the strength of students is less. But, our school has a total strength of 258 students and we are incurring additional charges of 60 paise per egg from our own pocket. Though there are four cooks, they cannot handle supervision of purchase, protection and maintaining records of eggs,” Veena added.

Trilok Chandra said the "National Egg Coordination Committee had fixed egg prices for the mid-day meal programme".

"Schools are purchasing eggs from local poultry farmers through a tie-up with them at lesser prices. The problem of burden on headmasters has not been reported in all schools in the state," he added.