Minister Nara Lokesh asked the officials to reintroduce the scheme. He had promised student unions that he would resume the midday meal in government junior colleges.
Published Dec 05, 2024 | 1:43 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 05, 2024 | 1:43 PM
Nara Lokesh. (X)
The TDP-led NDA government in Andhra Pradesh has decided to resurrect the midday meal scheme for students of the government junior colleges in the state.
In 2018, when the TDP was in power, it introduced the scheme to reduce the dropout rate of students after Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams (Class 10) since most of them were from poorer sections of society.
In Andhra Pradesh, most students in government junior colleges, after SSC, would go to work to supplement family income.
In 2018, the TDP which was in power, decided to improve enrolment of students and introduced the scheme in all the 450 junior colleges in the state. However, when the YSRCP came to power in 2019, it wound up the scheme.
Now that the TDP is back in the saddle, Information Technology, Electronics and Communications and the Human Resources Development Minister Nara Lokesh asked the officials to reintroduce the scheme. He had promised student unions that he would resume the midday meal in government junior colleges ahead of Assembly elections in 2024.
The scheme is expected to benefit 2.35 lakh students in government junior colleges. The total number of intermediate students in the state, including those in the private colleges, is 10.65 lakh.
Lokesh, at a review meeting with officials recently said that it was the responsibility of the government to ensure that there is no dropout after SSC and providing a midday meal scheme was one such step.
“Midday meal would be an incentive to the students,” he said and asked officials to revisit the scheme and draw a plan to implement it effectively.
He wanted the officials to take enough care to ensure that quality food was prepared and served in hygienic conditions to the students.
When the scheme was in implementation in 2018, each student used to get a midday meal which had 27.85 grams of protein and other items providing 966 calories of energy.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
