School feeding biscuits unavailable for three weeks at Rajarhat

RAJARHAT, KURIGRAM, Aug 7: The distribution of school feeding biscuits under the government's midday meal programme has remained suspended for the past three weeks at all 123 government primary schools in Rajarhat Upazila of Kurigram, raising concerns among teachers that student attendance could decline.

According to local education officials and teachers, no government primary school in the upazila has received biscuit supplies since July 28, after the contracted supplier, Pran-RFL, failed to deliver the products. As a result, schools have been unable to distribute the biscuits, a key component of the school feeding programme.

During visits to several schools on Tuesday, some students were seen receiving only a banana instead of the usual biscuit ration.

Golam Rabbani, acting head teacher of Gabur Helan Government Primary School, said the biscuits had become the main attraction of the school feeding programme.

"Irregular supplies are already affecting student attendance. Parents and students are asking us why the biscuits are not being distributed, but we ourselves do not know the exact reason," he said.

Jahan Imu, a fifth-grade student at Putikata Government Primary School, said the students had not received biscuits since last week.

Upazila Primary Education Officer Md Sharif Ahmed said the disruption was caused by complications related to the tender process.

"The contractor informed us that production has been affected because of issues related to the tender," he said.

However, Akaid Hossain, a sub-dealer of Pran-RFL, attributed the disruption to a gas shortage.
"Production at the factory has remained suspended because of insufficient gas supply. Distribution will resume once gas supply returns to normal," he said.