Maharashtra’s School Education Department issued an order extending a committee investigating the alleged substitution of green peas with regular peas in school meals under the PM Poshan Yojana, but the order was released three days after the extended term had already ended.
According to a report by Loksatta, the committee’s original term ended on 26 August. The department subsequently decided to extend its tenure until 15 September, but the government resolution communicating that extension was issued only on 18 September. The sequence has raised questions about the administrative handling of the inquiry.
The committee was examining complaints that students in schools across Maharashtra were being served regular peas instead of green peas as part of meals provided under the Prime Minister’s nutrition programme. The issue was raised in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on 17 March 2026 through a calling-attention motion.
Following demands for a high-level investigation, the School Education Minister assured the House that an inquiry would be conducted at the secretary level. Acting on that assurance, the department established the committee through a government resolution dated 26 May.
The committee was chaired by the Principal Secretary of the School Education Department. Its initial mandate was scheduled to run until 26 August. If the department intended to give the panel additional time, the extension would ordinarily have had to be decided before the original deadline or immediately afterwards so that the committee’s authority continued without a gap.
Instead, the department approved an extension up to 15 September but issued the relevant government resolution on 18 September. This means the formal order was released after both the original term and the stated extended period had expired.
The delayed order leaves an administrative question at the centre of the matter: what was the purpose of issuing an extension after the period for which it was granted had already ended? The report does not state whether the committee completed its inquiry by 15 September, submitted findings, or required additional time beyond that date.
The episode also places attention on how food-quality complaints in a publicly funded school-meal programme are investigated and documented. The PM Poshan Yojana is implemented through schools, making the department’s records, committee findings and follow-up decisions relevant to the delivery of meals to students across the state.
The inquiry originated in a legislative discussion and was formally assigned to a committee chaired at the department’s senior administrative level. The next official step will depend on whether the School Education Department publishes the committee’s findings or issues a further order explaining the status of the investigation.
