Student breakfast scheme an investment for future: Bhatti Vikramarka

Munagala (Suryapet): Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka described the breakfast programme for government school students as an investment in the state’s future human resources, asserting that no such large-scale initiative exists anywhere else in the world.

Speaking after laying the foundation stone for a Rs 9.6 crore centralised community kitchen at Munagala in Kodad constituency, Bhatti said the government was providing hot and nutritious breakfast to nearly 27 lakh students across the State six days a week. “The programme should not be viewed as a welfare handout but as an investment that would eventually contribute to Telangana’s economic growth,” said the minister.

Meanwhile, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy also participated in the foundation-laying ceremony. The greenfield kitchen at Munagala is being constructed to provide hygienically prepared hot breakfast to nearly 60,000 students studying in 1,020 schools. The facility will use modern technology and a centralised system to prepare and distribute food. Bhatti said students were being provided milk on three days of the week and ragi porridge on the remaining three days. He said providing breakfast simultaneously to 27 lakh children was a massive undertaking, pointing out that even preparing food for 100 people at home was a difficult task.

“Children’s future is the State’s future,” he said, stressing that adequate nutrition during the growing years was essential for developing healthy and productive human resources.

Bhatti said government welfare programmes should not be dismissed as “freebies”, arguing that expenditure on the poor, farmers, women and students would generate economic returns in the long run.

He announced that the government would introduce the Indiramma Family Insurance scheme on November 19, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Under the proposed scheme, families would receive financial protection of Rs 5 lakh in the event of the accidental death of the head of the family.

Bhatti praised Uttam and his wife for their public service, saying the people of Kodad and Huzurnagar were fortunate to have representatives committed to serving them. Congress workers and supporters also organised a rally of nearly 500 motorcycles from the Munagala helipad to the venue of the kitchen foundation ceremony.

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Deekonda Ravi Shankar

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