Expressing his distress at the “tardy” implementation of the mid-day meal scheme in certain schools, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said that an Assembly committee would be set up to inquire into allegations of misappropriation of mid-day meal scheme funds. The commitee will submit its report within three months. “I also want an all-party meeting on the matter. I am not happy with the grim situation and am concerned. Now, a call attention committee would come out with the truth,” Kumar said.

Kumar was responding to a question by CPM MLA Ramdev Verma after the latter was not satisfied with the reply given by HRD Minister Harinayan Singh. Verma had brought to the notice of the House the alleged misuse of mid-day meal funds by several schools. He said: “Whereas attendance of students at the schools in question were reported at 17-35 per cent, the schools were found to be availing the mid-day meal amount for all students on the roll”. Verma asked the government to clarify.

The state government also assured that it would “rein in” private coaching institutes demanding exorbitant fees from engineering, medical, business management and computer science students. RJD leader Ramchandra Purve, however, said that he was not sure how the government could control these fees in the absence of stringent laws on the matter.