Although the MDMS website resumed functioning late on Monday after a prolonged wait, the app used by headteachers remains non-operational.
Kozhikode: Headteachers across the state are facing mounting difficulties as payments for the distribution of school midday meals have been delayed for two months, compounded by the failure of the portal that manages the scheme, which has been out of service for the past three weeks. Although the website resumed functioning late on Monday after a prolonged wait, the app used by headteachers remains non-operational.
The MDMS (Midday Meal Scheme) portal was launched in the state in 2011. It is used to record daily data including the number of children who eat the meal, menu, attendance of cooking staff, and quantities of food items used.
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The state’s MDMS portal has been down since December following attempted cyberattacks on some servers of the IT Mission. Officials said work is under way to migrate portal data to new servers and that the process is expected to be completed by Tuesday.
With the portal non-functional, headteachers have been anxious about how to secure the outstanding payments. Some schools have due arrears of up to ₹7.5 lakh.
Headteachers and teachers in charge of the midday meal are required to enter details daily through the app before noon. However, for several days the app has failed to open. The portal allows senior officials including the headteacher to monitor data in real time, and monthly allocations of rice and other supplies to schools are made based on figures recorded on the portal.
Payments for food items supplied since October are still pending. Each month, headteachers submit expenditure statements to the AEO office by the second day of the month. Once approved, a receipt is generated through the portal, which must be submitted to the bank for the amount to be credited to the school’s account. Rice is supplied to schools through Supplyco, while payments for groceries, eggs and milk are transferred directly to the accounts of vendors.
The failure to release arrears has pushed headteachers across the state into a crisis, and the fact that the portal glitch has not been resolved even after three weeks is a matter of protest, said Biju Thomas, state president of the Kerala Government Primary School Headmasters Association (KPPHA), and general secretary ETK Ismail.
Published: 23 Dec 2025, 12:21 pm IST
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