Rice quota for State school kids may lapse

Rice quota for State school kids may lapse
Express News Service

Mumbai, Jan 23: The Rs 200 crore worth rice quota which the Centre has released for school children is likely to lapse, since the Congress-led Democratic Front has diverted the funds meant for the transportation of rice.

According to Shiv Sena legislator Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, under the Centrally sponsored scheme, a quota of 28 lakh bags of rice was fixed for Maharashtra for distribution in the schools.

Along with free rice, the Centre had also released Rs 14 crore towards the cost of transportation for the same, so that the state government did not have to bear the additional burden. Gidwani alleged that the cash-starved Congress-led Democratic Front government diverted Rs 14 crore for some other work, as a result of which, no funds were left for the transportation of rice.