Students relish nutritious food

Visakhapatnam: Districtincharge Minister Dola Sree Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy stated that the NDA government is striving hard to provide a better future for the poor students of the state and as a part of it, the mid-day meal scheme was introduced in government junior colleges across the state.

Launching the scheme at the Government Women’s Junior College at Old Jail road along with south constituency MLA Vamsi Krishna Srinivas Yadav and District Collector MN Harendhira Prasad, the minister said that the state government is working hard to provide a golden future for the students.

The minister encouraged the students to take advantage of the mid-day meal scheme, stay focused on their studies to lead a quality life. He opined that by providing nutritious food to the students studying in government colleges, they can focus better on their studies.

The government will provide necessary facilities for the poor students and they should work hard to achieve best results, he emphasised.

Speaking on the occasion, district collector MN Harendhira Prasad stated that the scheme was implemented to provide quality food to students in junior colleges and increase the enrollment of the poor students in government institutions.

As many as 5,600 students in 10 junior colleges across Visakhapatnam district are being provided meals through Akshayapatra Foundation, the Collector informed.

Later, the minister and collector had lunch with the students.

In another programme, the minister participated in Louis Braille birth anniversary celebrations at Government Residential School for Visually-Impaired Girls in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, he mentioned that disability pension has been increased to Rs.6,000 in Andhra Pradesh. Braille books will be provided to students at the beginning of the academic year and the pension for the disabled students will be deposited into their accounts every month, he informed.

He said that pension would be provided to every eligible person and DSC coaching will also be given free of cost to the disabled.

The district incharge Minister informed that a stadium will be constructed at a cost of Rs 200 crore for the purpose of the disabled in Visakhapatnam with an extent of 20-acre land. He assured that the coalition government will support the disabled in every possible manner. The minister distributed laptops to students of junior colleges on the occasion. MLC Vepada Chiranjeevi Rao and VMRDA Chairman MV Pranav Gopal, among others, were present.