HYDERABAD: The School Education department on Saturday announced that it will continue providing ragi java (a nutritious drink made with ragi flour and water or milk) to government school students in collaboration with the Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Trust, which will arrange the raw material.
The Trust will supply fortified ragi powder and jaggery powder in separate packets to mandal points, from where Mandal Educational Officers (MEO) will arrange transportation to schools, as done last year. At the school level, midday meal cook-cum-helpers will prepare the drink by adding ragi powder to boiling water, cooking it for 4–5 minutes, and then adding an equal quantity of jaggery powder. The department has permitted payment of fuel charges at Rs 0.25 per student per day to Self-Help Groups for preparation or serving.
Schools will place their requirement with the Trust at 10 grams of Ragi powder and 10 grams of jaggery powder per student for three days a week, on alternate days when eggs are not served. The scheme will cover all districts of the state except Hyderabad, a senior official said.