THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 04 September 2019 (Hold that trigger (Mint))

Hold that trigger (Mint)

Mains Paper 2: Social Justice
Prelims level: Mid Day meal
Mains level: Malnutrition problem

Context

• The mid-day meal revelation in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district is yet another instance.
• The children at a primary school in the district were served roti and salt, instead of a more wholesome lunch of pulses and vegetables.
• The government’s flagship scheme, designed to offer nutrition alongside education, also mandates the serving of milk on certain days of the week.

Highlighting the incident

• Journalist Pawan Jaiswal shot a video of that particular meal’s inadequacy and sent it to a Delhi-based news agency.
• Soon, the video went viral on social media, catching the state government and the district administration offguard.
• Someone would’ve had to be hauled up and orders issued for proper meals.
• The matter may have ended there had the authorities not filed a case against Jaiswal, charging him, among other things, with a criminal conspiracy and producing false evidence.
• This, despite the fact that in the FIR filed against the scribe, the administration admitted that only roti and salt had been made at the school until noon on the day of the incident.
• If the incident has snowballed into an all-India controversy, it’s largely for the attitude on display.
• Instead of responding to the news, the authorities’ instinct was to shoot the proverbial messenger.
• To explain the conspiracy charges, Mirzapur’s district magistrate has made the bizarre argument that Jaiswal should have clicked photos and written about the incident, rather than take a video, since he is a print journalist.

Conclusion

• The state government of Uttar Pradesh should put a stop to this theatre of the absurd, address inadequacies in its implementation of the mid-day meal scheme, and let reporters freely report the true state of affairs.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) Consider the following statements about The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandhana Yojana:
1. It is a direct benefit transfer program.
2. It was launched in 2018.
3. It is offered on a cloud-based platform that automates the entire benefit transfer mechanism and approval processes.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
a) 1 only
b) 2 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) All the above

Correct Answer: C
Mains Questions:
Q.1) Discuss the role of administration to removal malnutrition problem in India.