Karnataka Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka on Monday, 9 November 2026, accused the Congress-led state government of failing to ensure uninterrupted supply of essential food commodities under the Akshara Dasoha mid-day meal scheme in government schools across Karnataka, alleging that poor children are being deprived of nutritious meals owing to systemic administrative lapses.

What Ashoka Alleged

Ashoka stated that rice supplies to schools had been disrupted due to technical glitches in the payment system and delays in the SNS SPARSH portal. He alleged that headmasters were being forced to borrow rice from neighbouring schools simply to serve meals to children — a situation he described as an indicator of the government's deep administrative failure.

He further alleged that several schools had gone without cooking oil and pulses for the past eight to ten days, depleting kitchen stocks entirely and making it impossible to prepare adequate meals. According to Ashoka, teachers and school staff were personally arranging food supplies — in some cases spending money from their own pockets or purchasing groceries on credit from local shops — to prevent children from missing meals.

Ashoka's Criticism of Chief Minister Shivakumar

Addressing Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar directly, Ashoka questioned why the government could spend hundreds of crores of rupees publicising its guarantee schemes but was unable to guarantee two meals a day for poor children enrolled in government schools. He drew a sharp contrast between the funds reportedly available for government advertisements and the apparent inability to procure rice, pulses, and cooking oil for the mid-day meal programme.

'A government that came to power promising guarantee schemes also has the responsibility of guaranteeing mid-day meals to children from poor families,' Ashoka said, adding that no government should be so indifferent as to deprive poor children of food.

Broader Governance Concerns Raised

Ashoka framed the mid-day meal disruption as part of a wider pattern of administrative breakdown, alleging that the state government was simultaneously facing a shortage of funds for development works, delays in farmer assistance, and failures in paying government employees' salaries on time. He argued that the Akshara Dasoha scheme — designed specifically to address child hunger in government schools — had become collateral damage in the Congress government's governance failures.

Notably, the diversion of teachers' energy and income toward food procurement, rather than teaching, points to a systemic gap: when supply-chain systems fail, the burden falls on frontline workers with no institutional recourse.

Demands and What Comes Next

Ashoka demanded that the government take immediate steps to restore the uninterrupted supply of rice, pulses, cooking oil, and other essential food commodities to schools. He also called for swift resolution of the technical issues in the payment system and urged the removal of the additional burden placed on teachers. The Congress government is yet to issue an official response to the allegations. The developments are likely to draw further scrutiny as the Karnataka assembly session approaches.