Govt school kids to have ragi malt

Guntur: The state government will include ragi malt (ragi java) in midday meals scheme menu for the 37.7 lakh students studying at 44,395 government schools from March 1.

Midday Meals Scheme department officials are making necessary arrangements for this. The Central government directed the state government to include bajra, jowar and ragi in the midday meals scheme. The government has already started distributing ragi java in the social welfare residential schools.

Students will be given ragi java 250 ml each in the morning interval for three days in a week, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Eggs and ragi malt will be served on alternative days. Surveys conducted by Palnadu district administration indicate that over 12,000 schoolchildren have been suffering from anaemia.

Amaravati mandal education officer M Srinivasa Rao said, "I am working as a regular headmaster in Komarole in Prakasam district. I noticed some of the girl students are weak and due to lack of energy, they are unable to pay attention in the class. Heavy menstrual bleeding makes girls weak and they get tired easily. Growth is not proportionate to their age in some students. Due to anaemia, teenage girls and boys are facing this problem. I came to know that Satya Sai Seva Trust is distributing ragula pindi (ragi flour) and jaggery power packets to solve this problem. I started distributing the ragi malt by mixing ragula pindi and jaggery powder mixed with milk to the school students."

He said after three to four months, he found improvement and growth in the boys and girls consuming the ragi food. "Pupils are active and pay attention in the class. They are able to plan games and sports actively. Girl students' over bleeding problem too was solved. Hospital expenses also got reduced and parents expressed positive opinion over this diet. Body growth and immunity too increased," he explained.

Srinivasa Rao said he had been distributing ragi malt for the last eight months. Similarly, he started distributing ragi malt in the schools in Amaravati mandal. When he had taken up the matter with the midday meals director Nidhi Meena, principal secretary, school education Praveen Prakash and explained its benefits, they had taken steps to distribute ragi java in all schools across the state.

District medical and health officer Dr T Hanumantha Rao said supplying ragi malt (by mixing ragi flour with jaggery powder) to the students will solve the anaemia problem and calcium and iron levels will improve. The children will be physically strong and grow. Students who consume ragi malt are not easily tired, he added.