Food scam: 17 anganwadi workers suspended

LUCKNOW : The department of integrated child development scheme (ICDS) suspended 17 anganwadi workers of Pratapgarh and chargesheeted a district programme officer (DPO) for pilferage in the food being served to children at anganwadi centres, an official said.

The action was taken after raids led to the recovery of large quantities of food grain meant for the scheme in the warehouse of a private trader in the neighbouring Rae Bareli district.

The trader was arrested and sent to jail on the basis of an inquiry report,, said director, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Shatrughan Singh.

Singh said it was the first complaint of the year, adding that it was received a month ago. The probe indicted some employees, he said.“We have suspended 17 anganwadi workers and chargesheeted DPO Pratapgarh PK Yadav for selling children’s food to a trader in Rae Bareli,” he added. He said orders were issued to lodge FIRs against the Anganwadi workers. He added a departmental inquiry was initiated against Yadav and the child development project officer (CDPO) in-charge.

Government officials, who refused to be named, said complaints of irregularities were received daily but there was no foolproof mechanism to check pilferage.An activist Ram Kumar Yadav said there was no monitoring in the rural areas. “It has been noticed in inspections that some of anganwadis are lying defunct while some others have fake entries of children,” he said. “All this is part of the scam,” he alleged.

A news agency report said at least 29 people were booked for the scam in Rae Bareli, Kannauj and Pratapgarh. Four mukhya sevikas and one head clerk were suspended in Kannauj after the discovery of irregularities in the distribution of MDM scheme, the report added.

In Kannauj, the district magistrate’s (DM) team had found a large quantity of food grain meant for the MDM being transported in an auto rickshaw.

Action was taken on the basis of the report submitted by the DM office.