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A shocking video went viral on social media, showing underprivileged children at a government school in Madhya Pradesh being served their mid-day meal on scrap paper lying on the ground, highlighting serious lapses in the implementation of the scheme. The footage showed children sitting on the floor of the school compound in Madhya Pradesh’s Sheopur district with no shelter, and their meal was served on pieces of paper that were spread on the ground. No teachers were seen on the spot. मिड डे मील के लिए सरकार लाखों रुपए देती है , वो लाखों रुपए कहां खर्च हो रहे ? ?श्योपुर | मध्य प्रदेश pic.twitter.com/UWlKM49UAB — मटियामेट (@matiyamet_) November 7, 2025 Sheopur District Collector Arpit Verma ordered an immediate inquiry by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) after the incident came to light, NDTV reported. The self-help group serving the meals was suspended, and a show-cause notice was issued to the school principal. District Education Officer ML Garg suspended Bhogiram Dhakad, in-charge of Hullpur Secondary School. The incident highlighted shortcomings in the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM Poshan) scheme, which is intended to provide nutritious and hygienic meals to children in government and aided schools. Local reports indicated that negligence in serving mid-day meals in the school was a frequent occurrence, with students receiving improper food or sometimes having no plates to eat from. “Such behavior with children is completely unacceptable. Such inhumanity will not be tolerated at any level in the future,” said DC Verma. According to government data, Madhya Pradesh served mid-day meals in 87,567 out of 88,299 schools as of November 6, leaving 732 schools without meals on that day. The ruling BJP government had promised to improve the quality of mid-day meals in its 2023 assembly election manifesto.
