Eggs disappear from mid-day meals in Karimnagar

Mid-day meal agencies are not serving eggs to students in the wake of the spurt in the price of eggs in the market.

Karimnagar: Eggs have disappeared from the mid-day meals in government schools in the district over the last couple of weeks. Mid-day meal agencies are not serving eggs to students in the wake of the spurt in the price of eggs in the market.

In order to provide nutritious food to students studying in government schools, the government was serving eggs to students in the mid-day meal. Egg was being served to students three days a week. However, it disappeared during the last 20 days following the swell in the price of eggs.

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The government is providing Rs.5 per each egg. However, the price of eggs increased to Rs.7.

While some of the agencies are serving eggs once or twice a week, a majority of them stopped serving it since December 19.

Mid-day meal agencies, which have not been paid bills during the last five months as well as salaries, are serving the meal to students by borrowing money from private money lenders. Since the pending bills have become a huge burden for them, they are unable to spend huge amounts on purchasing eggs.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Mid-day Meal Workers Association district president, Burra Manjula said the government was providing Rs.5 per egg. However, the cost of each egg rose to Rs 7. Unable to bear the additional amount of Rs 2, they have stopped serving eggs in the meal since December 19, she said.

Informing that mess charges were pending for the last five months, she said the bills of eggs served to Class IX and X students were also pending during the last eight months. Their agency has to get bills wroth over Rs.60 lakh to Rs.70 lakh. Though the government was not clearing bills regularly, they were serving meals to students by borrowing money at 2 percent interest.

Though they brought the issue of egg price hike to the notice of DEO, there was no action yet, with the DEO assuring that higher officials would be informed, she said. The association submitted a representation to Finance Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka during the Prajavani programme in Hyderabad on January 2 and explained their troubles following the pending bills.

Stating that he was not aware about pending bills, the minister assured to release bills as early as possible, she said.

District Education Officer Janardhan Rao was not available for comment.