Hopes rise for return of midday meal in Jr colleges

Tirupati : Intermediate students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds studying in government junior colleges in the state are anticipating the reinstatement of the midday meal scheme which the government was implementing up to Class 10. The programme, which was operational during the TDP tenure earlier, was discontinued by the YSRCP government in 2019.

However, noticing the importance of it in junior colleges as well, present minister for education Nara Lokesh, during his Yuva Galam padayatra promised to revive the scheme if elected. Keeping this in view, the Government Junior Lecturers Association (GJLA) led by its state president Vunnam Ravi immediately took the initiative in meeting Lokesh recently and appealed to him to take a favourable decision on the implementation of midday meal programme for intermediate students as well.

Speaking to The Hans India, Ravi exuded confidence that implementing the midday meal scheme would likely boost admissions and retention rates in government junior colleges. He felt that the absence of the mid-day meal scheme may pose several challenges. Students who return home for lunch often do not come back to college in the afternoon session resulting in decreased attendance.

This further leads to increased dropout rates as lack of proper nutrition affects students’ ability to focus on studies. He recalled that the recent health checkups reveal several students are anaemic which clearly indicates their position in getting nutritious food. Another challenge is that they could not concentrate on studies with an empty stomach.

It may be noted that the erstwhile Chittoor district hosts 62 government junior colleges across 66 mandals, serving approximately 23,000 students annually. These institutions primarily cater to students from underprivileged communities, including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and minorities. Many of these students struggle to afford daily meals and often travel up to 20 kilometres to attend classes.

The parents were also of the view that the absence of the mid-day meal has been leading to several problems. As rural students mainly go to government junior colleges, they are unable to take lunch boxes and find it difficult to stay till evening with an empty stomach which is posing health risks as well.

In fact, the absence of mid-day meal scheme coupled with poor pass percentages has led to a huge dropout in the enrolment in government junior colleges. In this backdrop, hopes are high on Minister Nara Lokesh’s response in making the formal announcement of mid-day meal in government junior colleges.