BHOPAL: Irregularities worth around Rs 428 crore have been detected by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in the Take Home Ration (THR) scheme in Madhya Pradesh between 2018-2021.The THR is one of the components of the Supplementary Nutrition Programme, which forms part of the Centrally-sponsored Integrated Child Development Services. The scheme’s main aim is to supplement nutritional requirements of children aged between six months and three years, pregnant and lactating mothers and out-of-school adolescent girls (OOSAGs) aged between 11 and 14 years.During the period when the irregularities have been detected in the scheme, the state was ruled by the Kamal Nath-led Congress and the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP.According to the report for the year ended March 31, 2021 tabled in the Vidhan Sabha, “Audit findings clearly indicate serious irregularities in the identification of beneficiaries, production, transportation, distribution and quality control of the THR… The audit, therefore, recommends the government to act appropriately against delinquent officials…” According to the report, despite Central and state government instructions to complete the baseline survey for the beneficiary identification of OOSAGs for THR distribution by April 2018, the women and child development department could complete the baseline survey only in February 2021.
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