Why no self-help groups in mid-day meal bids: Bombay HC

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has asked the state to explain its decision to keep out some self-help groups from participating in the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) tendering process that was conducted and concluded recently. The petitioners claimed that the state had increased the criteria of the meals by putting conditions of the meal having to be fortified with micronutrients, thus making them ineligible to participate in the tendering process.

The state however informed the court that the tendering was done as per Supreme Court guidelines and conditions that were prevalent when the midday meal programme for children in the age group of 3-6 years was started in 2005.

A division bench of justices Shantanu Kemkar and G.S. Kulkarni was hearing a bunch of writ petitions filed by various women’s self-help groups and a couple of food manufacturers alleging that the state had been favourable to some contractors for providing meals under the ICDS scheme, as a result of which they were unable to participate in the tendering process. The petitioners also provided the court with packets of the Take Home Ration (THR) that was being provided under the scheme and said that they were unpalatable and hence were not being consumed by the beneficiaries.  

When the court asked the state to explain its stand, the state which was represented by senior counsel V.A. Thorat along with advocate Rohit Shetty and advocate Prachi Tatke pointed out that the petitioners had no locus as they did not participate in the tendering process. They further said that allegations of the tendering process being tweaked to favour some contractors was not true as the state had followed SC guidelines as well as were in line with the rules made thereof, hence the claims were baseless.

After hearing both sides at length, the bench kept the matter for directions on December 7.