School children in K’taka to get eggs all six days in week (Lead)

Bengaluru, July 20 (IANS) Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced on Saturday that the students of government and government-aided schools will get eggs six days a week in partnership with Azim Premji Foundation.

Earlier, the state government was providing eggs for school children two days a week already. With the new arrangement, the students will now get eggs for all six days.

Siddaramaiah spoke while inaugurating a programme, in partnership with the Azim Premji Foundation, to provide free supplementary nutritious food six days a week to children in government and aided primary and secondary schools.

Quality food is essential for mental health and good education, said the Chief Minister. “Creating opportunities for good education for the children of the poor is our aspiration,” he said.

“I have seen children come to school without breakfast and stay until noon without lunch. Hence, we decided to provide meals and eggs two days a week. The Azim Premji Foundation has joined hands with the government in this noble cause to provide eggs and supplementary nutritious food to children four days a week,” he said.

He called on school children to develop scientifically and intellectually, stating that only then can they become socially responsible.

“Creating opportunities for good education for the children of the poor is our aspiration. For this reason, we are providing uniforms, shoes, and socks, and opening more residential schools,” he said.

Azim Premji Foundation on Saturday entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Karnataka to support the nutritional enrichment of the state government’s mid-day meal program in government and government-aided schools for three years.

Eggs will be added to the mid-day meal for the 55 lakh students in these schools — from Grade 1 to Grade 10 — to provide nutritional enrichment. Eggs are laced with a wide range of essential nutritional content from proteins to minerals.

Currently the state government’s mid-day meal program provides eggs on two days of the week to the students. The Foundation’s support will enable the provision of eggs on all six days of the school week, substantially enhancing the nutrition for students.

An alternative high nutrition supplement will be provided for those students who do not consume eggs because of cultural preferences.

This initiative is aimed to improve the nutritional status of school students and contribute to their physical and cognitive development. The Foundation works extensively across the country to help improve the quality and equity of the public (government) education system.

The Foundation will work closely with the Commissioner of School Education and Literacy (CSE) to implement mechanisms to ensure high-quality eggs are delivered to each child in the schools covered by the program.

Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa, Wipro Chairman Azim Premji couple, the government’s Additional Chief Secretary L.K. Atheek Ahmed, Chief Minister’s Political Secretary Naseer Ahmed, and Guarantee Implementation Committee Vice President Mehrooz were present.

–IANS

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