In a bid to safeguard students from falling prey to drug peddlers, the Department of Dairy Development, Government of Kerala, has unveiled an innovative plan that aims to open MILMA Parlours in schools across the state, stated a report in The New Indian Express.
These parlours, set to be established in government, aided and private schools, seek to provide healthy dairy products within the school premises. The initial phase of the project will be implemented in a government school catering to a student strength ranging from 2,000 to 3,000.
The Department of Dairy Development plans to complete the implementation by the commencement of the next academic year. Subsequently, the project will be extended to aided schools in the second phase, with the third and final phase bringing these parlours to private schools.
The reasoning offered
The rationale behind this groundbreaking initiative lies in the unfortunate reality that school students have increasingly become targets of drug peddlers. During lunch breaks or free periods, students often leave the school premises to purchase snacks.
'Our school students come into contact with drug peddlers, who lure them into buying illicit substances like marijuana or MDMA. As a result, our school-going youngsters fall victim to the clutches of illegal drugs. To address this pressing issue. That's why we have come up with this initiative to ensure that students can enjoy tasty dairy products within the school campus itself, eliminating the need for them to venture outside and be exposed to such dangers,'' Chinju Rani, Minister for Dairy Development, told The New Indian Express.
MILMA, a cooperative federation in Kerala, will take charge of implementing this project. As part of their commitment, MILMA will provide coolers and refrigerators to the schools free of cost. A wide array of dairy products, including ice cream, cool drinks, chocolates, instant Palada, flavoured milk, Sip ice cream, skimmed milk curd and more, will be made available to the schools at a discounted price.
Additionally, MILMA has allocated Rs 50,000 for each school to set up their own MILMA parlour.
Jaya Raghavan, Marketing Manager at MILMA and Project Coordinator, said, "We have already reached out to schools regarding the opening of MILMA parlours, and if they agree to participate, we will provide them with a cooler, freezer and our MILMA sign board free of charge. We understand that the response from schools has been somewhat slow, possibly due to the start of the academic year. However, we firmly believe that we will soon receive a positive response from schools."
Despite a few challenges, such as schools permitting students to bring money to school, Jaya remains optimistic, stating, "We are confident that we can overcome these minor hurdles. In fact, we have been receiving encouraging responses from schools in Thiruvananthapuram and Alappuzha districts."
