After he was caught stealing rice meant for schoolchildren's lunch, the headmaster of a primary school in Bihar's Begusarai district has been banned from the school by irate villagers, police said Saturday.
Pitambar Pathak, headmaster of a government-run school in Puwari Tola village under Teghra block of the district, 126 km from state capital Patna, was caught selling rice to a local trader Monday by the villagers, police officers said.
The rice was meant for the Mid Day Meal scheme that aims to attract children to school and improve their nutrition levels too.
On being caught, Pathak admitted to his crime before the villagers and publicly apologised for it. The villagers fined him before he was allowed to leave the village.
However, Pathak Tuesday lodged a case of extortion against the villagers at the local police station. This angered the villagers and the school remained closed for the next three days.
When the school re-opened Friday, the villagers announced Pathak would not be allowed to enter the premises until strict action was initiated against him. Some villagers demanded his arrest also.
Officials of the district education department have lodged a case against Pathak.
This is not the first case when a teacher in the state was caught selling food meant for the Mid-Day Meal Scheme. In the last one year, rice and other foodgrains meant for the scheme were found in the house of teachers and several cases of irregularities were reported in the schools, in which teachers were allegedly involved.
The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is the world's largest nutritional programme, covering more than one million schools across India. Under it, students in government-run schools are given freen lunch. It was launched in July 1995 to tackle the twin problems of dropout rates in primary schools and nutrition among children from poor families.link
Showing posts with label Begusarai District. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Begusarai District. Show all posts
Saturday 23 May 2009
Monday 9 February 2009
Bihar Cabinet to meet at village
Perhaps for the first time in its history, the Bihar cabinet would meet at a nondescript village in Begusarai district on Tuesday as part of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's attempts to address the problems of rural masses.
Principal secretary Cabinet and Coordination department, Girish Shanker told that the meeting would be held in a "tent".
The Chief Minister decided to organise the cabinet meeting at Barbighee village after he received thousands of complaints during his ongoing 'vikas yatra'.
Shanker said so far as he remembered that the state cabinet had never met in a village, adding that all ministers and concerned departmental heads would be transported to the village in a special luxurious bus to attend Tuesday's Cabinet meeting at 2 pm.
Shanker said about 25 principal secretaries would accompany the ministers in the bus.
After the Cabinet meeting, the ministers and officials would be served traditional lunch comprising rice-dal, roti, vegetables, 'papad,' salads and sweets in 'desi' (rural) form.
The ministers and bureaucrats would be served lunch in rural way as they will have to sit on the ground instead of the food being served through buffet system on decorated tables.
Three time Bihar Chief Minister and senior JD(U) leader Jagannath Mishra said though there was nothing wrong in holding the cabinet meeting at the countryside, it would cost a heavy burden on the state exchequer.
Maintaining that it would set a wrong precedent, Mishra said Kumar's decision would open floodgates for similar demands by the locals and ward councilors for holding cabinet meetings in their areas.
On two occasions in the past, the Bihar cabinet had met outside the State capital — once during the regime of Sri Krishna Sinha and again during the tenure of Kedar Pandey at Ranchi, the summer capital of undivided Bihar.
Former Bihar minister and senior RJD leader Jagdanand Singh, when contacted, said there was no no legal binding and provision that the cabinet meeting could not be held outside the state but since the capital has a proper place designated for the purpose, the meeting is generally held here.link
Principal secretary Cabinet and Coordination department, Girish Shanker told that the meeting would be held in a "tent".
The Chief Minister decided to organise the cabinet meeting at Barbighee village after he received thousands of complaints during his ongoing 'vikas yatra'.
Shanker said so far as he remembered that the state cabinet had never met in a village, adding that all ministers and concerned departmental heads would be transported to the village in a special luxurious bus to attend Tuesday's Cabinet meeting at 2 pm.
Shanker said about 25 principal secretaries would accompany the ministers in the bus.
After the Cabinet meeting, the ministers and officials would be served traditional lunch comprising rice-dal, roti, vegetables, 'papad,' salads and sweets in 'desi' (rural) form.
The ministers and bureaucrats would be served lunch in rural way as they will have to sit on the ground instead of the food being served through buffet system on decorated tables.
Three time Bihar Chief Minister and senior JD(U) leader Jagannath Mishra said though there was nothing wrong in holding the cabinet meeting at the countryside, it would cost a heavy burden on the state exchequer.
Maintaining that it would set a wrong precedent, Mishra said Kumar's decision would open floodgates for similar demands by the locals and ward councilors for holding cabinet meetings in their areas.
On two occasions in the past, the Bihar cabinet had met outside the State capital — once during the regime of Sri Krishna Sinha and again during the tenure of Kedar Pandey at Ranchi, the summer capital of undivided Bihar.
Former Bihar minister and senior RJD leader Jagdanand Singh, when contacted, said there was no no legal binding and provision that the cabinet meeting could not be held outside the state but since the capital has a proper place designated for the purpose, the meeting is generally held here.link
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