Midday Meals Planned for Government Junior Colleges in Telangana

• Midday meals planned for junior colleges.
• Telangana focuses on student nutrition.
• Midday meals aim to reduce dropouts.

The Telangana government is moving towards a major student welfare initiative by planning to introduce midday meals in government junior colleges across the state.

The proposal includes providing morning breakfast afternoon lunch and evening snacks to students beginning from the next academic year.

Officials said the move is aimed at combining quality education with proper nutrition especially for students from economically weaker backgrounds.

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has given in principle approval for the scheme following discussions during a recent education department review meeting.

Based on his direction the Intermediate Education Commissionerate has prepared detailed proposals outlining financial and operational requirements.

At present the state has around 430 government junior colleges with more than one lakh seventy thousand students enrolled in first and second year courses.

With admissions rising every year and reforms planned for the coming session officials estimate student strength could increase to nearly two lakh.

A majority of these colleges are located outside the Outer Ring Road mainly in rural areas where most students depend heavily on government support.

Under the plan the scheme would be implemented for nearly 250 working days including additional days to ensure students are not affected during exams or holidays.

The estimated cost is twenty seven rupees per student per day with the annual expenditure expected to be around two hundred thirty five crore rupees.

Unlike school midday meals which receive central assistance the cost for intermediate students is proposed to be fully borne by the state government.

Authorities believe the initiative will help improve attendance reduce dropout rates and encourage more students to continue higher education in government institutions.