Centre should hike Mid-Day meal funds: Srihari

Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari today urged the Centre to review financial assistance being offered to Akshaya Patra Foundation providing nutritional food to the students.

Launching nutritional food of introducing Millets to the menu of the students at Akshaya Patra Foundation for mid day meals scheme here Srihari asked the Centre to increase funding. The State Government is spending Rs 557 cr for mid day meal scheme in the state and it is not sufficient to cater to the needs of the students as of now. The deputy chief minister appreciated the foundation for providing mid day meals to 2 lakh students in GHMC purview. Across the country 16 lakhs students are benefitting through mid day meals scheme, he said and claimed that the government was providing nutritional food to 30 lakh students every day through mid-day meals scheme across the State.

The Deputy Chief Minister claimed that the government is providing nutritional food to 30 lakhs students every day through mid day meals scheme across the state. He said that the Centre is providing poor funding for the scheme including Rs 4.13 per student of primary school, Rs 6.18 per student of high school. However the state government is providing nutritional food by providing one egg to each student in the scheme and also supplying fine rice in adequate quantity. He also explained that menu in Gurukul schools, KGBVs and Model Schools include egg for three days a week, chicken every week in a month, two days mutton in a week and 250 ml milk in morning, Ragi Jawa towards breakfast and 50 gram ghee. Srihari claimed that only Telangana and nowhere else in the country such menu being implemented. We will urge the Centre to review its funding for the scheme.

He also said that the foundation has extended its services to Warangal city to provide Rs 5 meals to the poor class. Srihari said that a recent survey revealed that the students are not taking nutritional and balanced food which may lead to hazardous health problems and impact their natural growth. He also got nostalgic saying that as a student during his childhood he used to take several millets like Sajjalu, Ragulu, Jowar and Korralu and dal items supplied by Akshaya Patra.