Students to monitor hostel food, says Telangana CM at uniform diet launch
HYDERABAD: Asserting that students should be empowered and allowed to monitor the food they consume every day, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Saturday instructed officials to set up Mess Management Committees with students as members in government hostels and residential schools across the state.
Announcing that the government would release mess expenses on the 10th day of every month through the green channel, the CM made it clear that he would make visits to residential schools part of his official tours.
Revanth was speaking after launching the “Uniform Diet Menu” from a social welfare residential school at Chilkur. Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, other ministers and collectors unveiled the diet menu in their respective districts.
The uniform diet menu has been designed to ensure that students are served nutritious, protein-rich food throughout the month. The elaborate menu covers every single day, with separate items listed for breakfast, break, lunch, snacks and dinner.
While chicken will be served on two Sundays and two Wednesdays, eggs will be part of the dishes at least 23 times in the month. Milk with “Boost” will be served every Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday, while students will get banana, guava, papaya, watermelon and sapota, as well as boiled pulses, millet biscuits and ginger tea during the day break and in snacks.
“Recently, a girl died due to food poisoning. I can understand the pain of the grieving parents. Rich and poor love their children equally. Parents repose faith in us and send their children to hostels. We should be more responsible. We need to take precautions and stop the recurrence of such incidents,” the CM stated.
Spending on education is investing in the future: CM
Pointing to the general misconception that students of private institutions are more talented than government schools, the chief minister stated that his government was working hard to remove such misconceptions. “The firm resolve of the administration is to completely overhaul the education system and enhance educational standards,” he said.
“Around 23 lakh students are studying in 26,000 government schools in Telangana while 33 lakh students are enrolled in 11,000 private schools. Are those teaching in private schools better qualified than government teachers? Why are we unable to produce multi-talented students? Shouldn’t we think about it? Isn’t this our responsibility?” he asked.
Stating that the welfare and development were like his two eyes, Revanth said that spending on education was not expenditure but investment in the future. He said: “ What have we learned over the past 70 years? Why are we not planning for the next academic year in advance? We must introspect and find a permanent solution. It is our responsibility and we cannot escape from it.”
The chief minister also asked teachers to encourage students to excel in other fields. “Government is ready to provide facilities for required training,” he assured.