Internal audit points to big gaps in MP's ICDS ration supply
- A report by the Madhya Pradesh Accountant-General has unearthed an alleged fraud to the tune of several crores in the State’s nutrition programme for school children.
Take Home Ration
- Identification of beneficiaries, production, transportation, distribution and quality control of Take Home Ration.
- It is Component of the Supplementary Nutrition Programme
- It is one of the services provided under the Integrated Child Development Scheme or ICDS.
- It comprises food grains and other items provided to address the nutritional requirements of 49.58 lakh beneficiaries — children (0.5–3 years), pregnant and lactating mothers, and out-of-school adolescent girls (11-14 years).
Fake beneficiaries
- Take Home Ration was given to 24% of the beneficiaries (nearly 12 lakh) and found that there were irregularities in estimating the number of beneficiaries, transportation, ration mills producing beyond capacity and falsified distribution, among others.
- The Estimate was without conducting any baseline survey.
Report Highlights
- The registration number of “trucks” that six manufacturing plants or firms claimed to have been used to transport rations were found to be those of motorcycles, cars, autos and tankers.
- More than 10,000 tonnes of rations, costing ₹62.72 crores, were not transported nor available in the warehouse.
- 2017-19: Madhya Pradesh reported the maximum number of infant deaths and stood third in terms of maternal mortality in the country.