The Congress government in Telangana has launched its flagship “Breakfast and Milk” scheme in schools across the state, coinciding with the commencement of the new academic year.
State BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar formally launched the scheme at Raj Bhavan Government High School in Khairatabad area in the city. The minister also distributed textbooks and notebooks to students as part of the inauguration ceremony.
Speaking at the event, Prabhakar said the scheme would benefit around 29 lakh students studying from pre-primary to Class XII in government schools across Telangana. The initiative has been launched alongside the state-wide “Badi Bata” enrolment drive, which aims to increase admissions in government schools, bring back dropouts and encourage parents to choose public education institutions.
Earlier, with an aim to strengthen the education sector, the government made arrangements to distribute school uniforms, shoes, socks, neck ties, belts and bed material to all students studying in government schools and residential schools, including Kasturba Gandhi, BC, SC, ST, and Minority residential schools.
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Prabhakar said the government would spend about Rs 720 crore annually on the programme, including Rs 540 crore towards providing breakfast and Rs 180 crore for milk supply. Nutritious breakfasts will be served six days a week, while students will receive milk on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and ragi malt on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
“The scheme has been introduced to ensure that no child attends school on an empty stomach. It will help prevent hunger and malnutrition, improve physical and mental health, enhance concentration and contribute to better academic performance,” Prabhakar said.
He urged students to focus on their studies and make their families proud through academic achievement. He also called upon teachers to work towards increasing enrolment in government schools.
Under the breakfast menu, students will be served items such as dosa with chutney, chapati with curry, millet idli with sambar, poori with aloo kurma, millet upma, pongal and bonda on different days of the week.
In Hyderabad district, 45 government schools have been selected in the first phase of implementation, benefiting 12,437 students. The programme is being implemented with the support of the Manna Trust.
According to officials, the scheme is intended to improve the nutritional status of students, increase attendance, reduce dropout rates and support healthy growth and learning outcomes.
Hyderabad district has 672 government schools with a total enrolment of 93,501 students. Of the schools selected in the first phase, 23 are primary schools with 5,258 students, two are upper primary schools with 175 students, and 20 are high schools with 7,004 students.
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