Millet malt mixed milk to be served in govt, aided schools in Karnataka

BENGALURU: As many as 55 lakh students of government and aided schools in Karnataka to be served with millet malt blended with milk and the programme was launched by the State Government on Thursday which will be conducted in collaboration with Ministry for Primary and Secondary Education and Satya Sai Annapoorna Trust.

After the launch of the programme in Bengaluru, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, addressing the gathering, said that the aim of the programme is to keep students fit, fight malnutrition and also anemia.

Apart from serving milk, he said, the State Government is providing eggs two days a week from earlier one day egg servings in schools. Serving eggs two-days a week was on the idea of the Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Madhu Bangarappa. For those who do not eat eggs, he said, such students are given chikkis and bananas instead.

The Chief Minister said the millet mixed milk is a “nutritious” food needed for the students to stay alert while poor nutrition affects one's concentration levels. A quality education and nutritious food are very essential for the students and quality education should be made accessible to all to bring about equality in the society.

Over the launch of “Ksheeera Bhagya” serving milk to students in government schools a decade back in the State, Siddaramaiah said when he was the Chief Minister in 2013, a delegation of Karnataka Milk Federation met him and discussed that something has to be done to deal with the surplus milk production in the State and it was also difficult to prepare milk products, then, it was decided to launch “Ksheera Bhagya” to serve milk for students 5 days a week and the programme is running in the State till date.

To keep the milk servings in government schools, he said Rs 731 crore has been allocated in the budget and stated that the milk supplied to the government schools by KMF is reimbursed by the State Government.

Stressing on the need to have quality education, Siddaramaiah said, education should lead a person towards enlightenment and not to fall to the practice of superstition. But, he observed that many doctorate holders, well-educated persons follow superstition and said “I don’t say do not worship God but stay from superstition beliefs.”