Clerk of Surat district administration jailed for three years for midday meal scam

Surat (Gujarat) : The Surat district court has sentenced three years of rigorous imprinsonment to the clerk employed at Surat’s Choriyasi mamlatdar office for swindling money worth Rs 55,000 under the ‘Mid-Day meal’ scheme of the State Government on Monday.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate VK Barot sentenced Rajendra Motiwala, a head clerk at the Surat Choriyasi mamlatdar office after the charges against him for swindling Rs 55,000 under the Mid-Day Meal scheme were proved on Monday. The accused used to present fake bills in the name of the school management in the rural areas for siphoning huge amount of government funds allocated under the scheme.

PD Damor, government pleader while arguing the case said, “The mid-day meal scheme has been launched with the sole intension of eradicating malnutrition among the poor children attending the government schools. The accused used fake signatures of the school authorities to siphon the government money allocated under the scheme”