Lucknow, Sep 26 (IANS) An inquiry has been initiated against principals of 17 government-run primary schools in Uttar Pradesh’s Sant Ravidas Nagar district for irregularities in the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme run for students, an official said Friday.”The anomalies in the MDM scheme came to the fore during our surprise inspections of the schools,” R.S. Dwivedi, officer in-charge of basic education in Sant Ravidas Nagar, told IANS by phone.

During the surprise checks “we learnt that some of the schools were not regularly providing lunch to their students under the MDM scheme. In other schools, the food under the MDM scheme was being cooked in unhygienic conditions,” he added.

Education authorities raided nearly 24 schools in Bhikripur, Babusarai, Tulsipur, Kodhra and other villages to find out the quality of lunch being provided to students under the MDM scheme, officials said.

Sant Ravidas Nagar, better known by its old name of Bhadohi, is about 250 km from Lucknow.

About 150,000 schools are covered under the mid-day meal scheme in Uttar Pradesh. Under the scheme, lunch is provided to students till Class 8. Over 18.6 million students are enrolled under the scheme in the state.