Nizamabad: The new common diet menu launched by the state government on Saturday mandates serving mutton twice and chicken four times a month, along with boiled or fried eggs on non-vegetarian-free days for students in government residential schools and welfare hostels.
The new diet prescribes idli, vada, puri, ragi malt and milk with Boost for breakfast.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy finalised and launched the menu, which will be implemented across gurukul schools and welfare hostels run by the welfare departments of Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Backward Classes (BC), and minorities commuinities. The initiative will benefit over 8 lakh students every day.
The revised diet plan follows Revanth Reddy’s announcement of a 40 per cent hike in mess charges, a long-pending demand unaddressed by the previous BRS government since 2016. While the prices of vegetables, chicken, mutton, and other essential commodities surged significantly in recent years, mess charges remained stagnant, leading to poor food quality in schools and hostels.
As per new diet, for lunch mutton curry will be served twice a month and chicken curry four times a month, accompanied by staples like ‘bagara rice’. On other days, boiled or fried eggs will be provided.
Lunch will also include vegetarian options like palakura dal (spinach dal), dosakaya pappu (cucumber dal), sambar, vegetable kurma, and curries featuring carrot, beetroot and munagaku (drumstick leaves).
For breakfast students will be served kichidi, idli, vada, puri with chole masala, upma, ragi malt, rice pongal with chutney, and milk with Boost.
Snacks in the evening will include nutritious items such as boiled shenigalu (chickpeas), boiled pesarlu (green gram), onion pakoda, boiled batani (peas), fried peanuts with jaggery, and ginger tea.
For dinner the menu offers curries of beerakaya (ridge gourd), goru chikkudu (cluster beans), and gongura pachadi (sorrel chutney). Sambar and buttermilk will also be part of the dinner options.
The government has ensured that all these items will be served randomly on different days throughout the week, providing variety and ensuring balanced nutrition for students.
The revised menu and increased mess charges are expected to tackle the long-standing issues of substandard food and malnutrition among students. Revanth Reddy said that the new menu reflects the Congress government’s commitment to improving the quality of life for students in welfare hostels and residential schools.
