Image for representation | Photo credit: Shankar Chakraborty
The Education Ministry has asked the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) for a special audit of the alleged misappropriation of funds for the PM Poshan scheme in West Bengal over the past three years, officials said on Wednesday.
He said that necessary corrective action would be taken by the Ministry on the basis of the audit report.
“The Ministry of Education has requested the CAG for a special audit of the implementation of PM Poshan Yojana in the state of West Bengal in the last three financial years. This audit will include compliance, performance and financial audit,” said a senior ministry official.
The CAG is empowered to conduct this audit under the Audit and Accounts Regulations (Amendment) 2020 made in pursuance of section 23 of the Comptroller and Auditor General’s (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971 (Act No. 56 of 1971). ,” the officer said.
The Department of School Education and Literacy administers the PM POSHAN scheme, under which states are required to provide one hot cooked meal to eligible children in classes I to VIII and kindergarten (below class I), based on proposals received from them. Funds are made available for. ,
PM Poshan Yojana benefits about 11.80 crore children studying in 11.20 lakh government and government-aided schools in the country.