Eggs, chikkis, bananas once more on midday meal menu for gov't school students of Karnataka

Eggs, chikki and bananas will be distributed as supplementary nutrition twice a week in government and aided schools across Karnataka. The announcement was made by School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa while inaugurating the egg distribution scheme on Friday, August 18.

The distribution of these food items for supplementary nutrition had been reduced from twice to once a week shortly after the Karnataka Assembly elections due to budgetary constraints. However, the scheme was relaunched on Friday, doubling the amount of supplementary nutrition. It was also extended to students of Classes IX and X. Earlier, it was limited to Classes VIII and below, as per a report by The New Indian Express.

The scheme was inaugurated at the Government Higher Primary School in Hosahalli, Mandya. Minister Bangarappa and several MLAs partook in the midday meals distributed to students at the school as a part of the ceremony. The minister said that as many as 60 lakh students in government and aided schools would benefit from the scheme, with 1.2 crore eggs provided per week.

Under the Midday Meal Scheme (MMS), eggs were put forward as supplementary nutrition to combat malnutrition in government schools, especially in rural districts. The scheme was officially implemented in government schools in July 2022 across the state, with eggs to be distributed on 46 days of the academic year. Alternatives of bananas and chikki were also mandated to be provided for students who did not want eggs, as per TNIE.