`Won`t compromise on mid-day meal quality`

New Delhi: Government will not compromise with quality in mid-day meal programme and the HRD Ministry will scout for resources after the Petroleum Ministry turned down its request for supplying subsidised LPG for the programme.

"Whatever the Petroleum Ministry gives or finance ministry gives, we will not compromise on the quality of mid- day meal, that we are committed. We will manage, we will find resources but we will not compromise on that programme," Pallam Raju told a news agency at the sidelines of a programme of Delhi University. Earlier, Minister of State for HRD Shashi Tharoor had said that the request of the HRD Ministry has not been agreed to and the Petroleum Ministry has advised that the additional burden could be compensated to the HRD Ministry through the budgetary provision for mid-day meal scheme. The cap on LPG cylinder will put an additional burden of Rs 653 crore on the scheme. Worried that the mid-day meal programme could be hit by the cap on subsidised LPG cylinders, the then HRD minister Kapil Sibal had written to the Petroleum Ministry in October suggesting that it consider providing subsidised LPG cylinders for the current fiscal year. PTI