guwahati congress mp from assam gaurav gogoi wrote to union finance minister nirmala sitharaman on monday regarding the 38 cut in budget for the midday meal scheme when compared to figures in 201415 asking the finance minister to not paralyze welfare mechanisms gogoi who is a member of standing committee on finance says amid increasing number of dropouts from schools due to the lockdowns and the pandemic situation curtailing funds for midday meals is alarming for the public education sectorthe scheme was allocated rs 13215 crores in 201415 it is allocated rs 11000 in the latest budget the number has decreased even without accounting for inflation and when accounted with 5 percent inflation the schemes allocation has been reduced by 38 percent read the letteras the midday meal scheme has proven to be an incentive for students to attend school these cuts are not only alarming with regard to child nutrition but also hampers education gogoi added in a situation where the government should endeavour to ensure retention and incentivise reenrolment in schools the budget allocations are immensely disappointing he stated the lok sabha mp urged sitharaman to reconsider the stance on child welfare and economic support provided to such schemes especially in the backdrop of the pandemic the government should not paralyse the existing welfare mechanisms by starving them for revenue he appealed gogoi also alleged that the integrated child development services have been subjected to a 36 cut in budget icds was allocated rs 18691 crores in 201415 which at an inflation rate of 5 percent would amount to rs 26300 crores currently keeping allocation for it at 84 percent of the umbrella scheme same as last year this years allocation would be rs 16888 crores this would amount to a 36 percent cut in real numbers the letter readwhile these cuts gogoi said are a reason of grave concern in any year the backdrop of national family health survey5 and the pandemic make them deplorable sights nfhs5 highlighted prevalent stunting and an increase in wasted children putting child welfare at the centre of challenges faced by the country this was reiterated by indias 94th rank indicating a serious level of hunger in the 2020 global hunger index he added