Breakfast Scheme To Cover All Govt Schools, Junior Colleges From November; 22 Lakh Students To Benefit

The state government has decided to extend the breakfast scheme to all government schools and junior colleges from the first week of November, covering nearly 22 lakh students, official sources said on Friday.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who launched the scheme on June 15, reviewed its implementation with senior officials and directed them to complete construction and upgradation of centralised community kitchens in all 33 districts by October-end. The kitchens are being established at an estimated cost of `300 crore to facilitate statewide implementation of the scheme.

In the first phase, the programme covered 1,269 government schools and 33 junior colleges in eight districts, benefiting 1,44,610 students through seven community kitchens. With the subsequent commissioning of kitchens at Madhira and Manthani, the number of beneficiaries has increased to nearly two lakh.

Sources said the government aimed to achieve 100 per cent coverage by the first week of November. Community kitchens are currently operational at Narsingi, Uppal, Mahbubnagar, Sangareddy, Kodangal, Hanamkonda, Warangal, Madhira and Manthani. Another kitchen is scheduled to be opened at Mancherial by the end of September.

The government plans to establish 39 centralised kitchens at various locations across the 33 districts. Seven existing kitchens will be upgraded and the remaining facilities newly constructed. The government will bear 70 per cent of the infrastructure cost, while voluntary organisations will contribute the remaining 30 per cent. The Hare Krishna Movement Charitable Trust and Manna Trust are among the organisations partnering in the initiative.

Market yard premises are being preferred for the kitchens as many already have platforms and sheds, making them suitable for conversion into large-scale cooking facilities and helping expedite construction, the sources said.

The kitchens will use modern machinery for washing and cutting vegetables, cooking rice and preparing other food items. Officials said this would reduce manual labour, improve hygiene and ensure compliance with food safety standards. Bulk procurement would help reduce costs, while standardised cooking would ensure consistency in taste and quality.

The menu, prepared under the supervision of nutrition experts, will provide a balanced intake of vitamins and proteins. Breakfast will be served six days a week, from Monday to Saturday. The menu includes dosa with chutney or sambar on Monday, millet idli with sambar on Tuesday, puri with mixed vegetable kurma on Wednesday, bonda with chutney or sambar on Thursday, idli with chutney or sambar on Friday and upma with chutney or sambar on Saturday.

Milk will be provided three days a week and ragi java on the other three days. Milk quantity will be 75 ml for younger students and 100 ml for Classes VI to XII.

The government will spend `540 crore annually on the breakfast programme. Around 1.92 lakh Intermediate first- and second-year students will receive both breakfast and lunch, with `80 crore allocated for breakfast and `100 crore for midday meals, besides `56 crore specifically for Intermediate students.