BENGALURU: Starting today, college students arriving from far off places to attend classes, maybe even skipping breakfast at home, will get free midday meals at this university.
All they need to do is get the coupons and show it at their canteen from 11:45 am, through their common break, to avail food ranging from rice sambar to mudde sambar , free of cost.
This novel initiative was started by the lecturers of the newly established Nrupatunga University (formerly Government Science College) who are funding the programme for its students.
Teachers have identified 250 undergraduate and post graduate students who will be given the free meal this semester.
And each of the lecturers has pitched in anywhere between Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000 -- funds that will span three months (a semester). Should there be more funds coming in from benefactors, more students will be benefited by the programme.
One may note that this is not the first time that the institute has run such a programme -- every year there are about 300-500 undergraduate and post graduate students identified for the meal programme, depending on the funding in hand, Kavitha K.R. Registrar Administration, Nrupatunga University told TNIE.
However the pandemic and the lockdown in 2020 brought the programme to a halt, while students too largely attended online classes. Finally, as college students are back on campus now for regular classes, the university saw an opportune time in resuming the programme.
Students are identified for the programme on the basis of distance of travel from their home to college, those who are from economically challenged backgrounds and those who have early classes, added Kavitha.
They are identified by lecturers who act as mentors for a cohort of 20 to 25 students and understand students at a one to one level.
When asked why not provide breakfast, instead of lunch, Kavitha said "The possibility of providing breakfast was discussed earlier. Since students from science disciplines have practical classes starting at 8am, there was a logistical problem catering to all students at one time. Hence meal at noon was decided."