Uniform diet menu introduced; hike in diet charges celebrated 

Chief Minister Revanth Reddy introduces uniform diet menu for State welfare schools, emphasizing nutritious meals and food safety.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Saturday introduced a uniform diet menu for all State welfare schools and colleges.

The four-week diet plan, Monday through Sunday, includes breakfast, some fruits as mid-morning snack, lunch, evening snack and dinner. Eggs are served at least four times a week, and chicken or mutton is served for lunch twice a week. All dinners are vegetarian meals. The menu suggest a generous amount of protein in the form of pulses, cereals, milk, millets, leafy vegetables and ghee.

The launch of the new menu on Saturday was also organised with sahapankthi bhojanam or community lunch programme at all schools linked to welfare institutions in the State. The celebration was about the the government’s October-31 order enhancing diet charges by 40% and cosmetic charges by up to three times for all boarding students in the State. It was promoted as ‘Chief Minister’s Diwali gift to all hostellers’.

According to officials, the twin objective of the government is to provide nutritious food to students and to rebuild trust among parents, in the wake of recent incidents of food contamination. Hence, parents of the students, along with public representatives were invited to the event.

While Mr. Revanth Reddy was at a residential school in Chilkoor in Chevella Assembly constituency for the launch, his cabinet and legislature colleagues spread out in their respective constituencies as part of the celebrations.

The lunch programme was organised at all schools linked to Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions for SC, ST, Backward Classes, Minorities, Gurukul schools for the visually impaired and the disabled, junior colleges and Bala Sadans run by the Women and Child Welfare department. And the events witnessed cultural and literary shows by students.

Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who participated in the launch programme in Madhira, Khammam said that the previous Bharata Rashtra Samithi government was responsible for the state of food safety in schools and hostels. He alleged that it had delayed hiking the diet charges and did not clear mess bills.