The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education plans to take up the school feeding program, providing nutritious food as a mid-day meal to 3.5 million primary school students under the project.
The project budget has been reduced from Tk17,290 crore to Tk4,695 crore.
Plans have been made to implement this program at 19,000 government primary schools in 150 upazilas within a month, as confirmed by SM Ansaruzzaman, the project director of the School Feeding program.
He told Dhaka Tribune on Tuesday that the food will be provided to the students during school hours, five days a week, under the program.
Furthermore, preparations are underway to present the project to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on January 25.
The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education's scheme is named the Government School Feeding Program (Phase I).
The estimated cost of the project is Tk4,695,01,50,000 from government funds and Tk64,02,00,000 from foreign grants, according to the project draft file.
Previously, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education had proposed a project at a cost of Tk 17,290,02,20,000 with full government funding.
The Primary School Meal scheme was proposed to be implemented from March 2021 to June 2026. However, it was not approved during the ECNEC meeting. Instead, practical and effective measures were ordered for primary school students. The Ministry has informed the Planning Commission that the current project has been proposed in this context.
Project director SM Ansaruzzaman said: "The School Feeding Program (Third Revised) Investment Scheme has already been implemented in poverty-stricken areas under the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education. In this case, the comparative details of food collection and distribution management conducted under the completed project and under this project will be asked in the meeting."
Under this project, proposals have been made to distribute food among primary school students in 150 upazilas.
A total of Tk511 crore has been allocated for the purchase of one jeep, three microbuses, and 150 motorcycles in the proposed project.
The earlier completed school feeding program in poverty-stricken areas project included two vehicles and other office equipment. An upcoming meeting will discuss the latest status of the office equipment and their inclusion under the proposed project.
In the proposed scheme, a total resource of Tk4,181 crore has been earmarked for foodstuff, which is 87.85% of the total estimated expenditure, said the project director.
However, Tk2 crore has been proposed for survey, monitoring and evaluation of the project.
In the Development Project Proposal (DPP) of the proposed project, resources of Tk2 crore for handwashing, Tk2 crore for seminars or workshops, Tk2 crore for training management, and Tk282.60 crore have been kept for air conditioning.