Telangana govt likely to relaunch breakfast scheme in Hyderabad schools

The Telangana Congress government is set to revive the breakfast scheme in 1,700 schools across Greater Hyderabad, but the rollout may not begin on July 15 as tenders are still being finalised.

Hyderabad: After depriving students of their first meal in school for two academic years, the Telangana Congress government is likely to relaunch the breakfast scheme in just 1,700 schools in the Greater Hyderabad limits to begin with.

However, it is unlikely that the scheme will be rolled out on the first day of the academic year 2026-27 i.e., July 15 as the State government is yet to finalise the tenders, for which submission concluded on June 6, and select agencies for supplying the food. In addition, there is a need to establish new centralised kitchens.

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The School Education department proposed breakfast menu comprises dosa and chutney on Monday, two millet idlis and sambar on Tuesday, two pooris and mixed vegetable kurma on Wednesday, two bondas and chutney or sambar on Thursday, two Idli and chutney/sambar on Friday and upma and chutney/sambar on Saturday.

The same breakfast menu is also applicable for students of the government junior colleges for whom the scheme will be launched from this academic year. In addition, both school and government junior college students will be provided milk, with 100 ml per student of pre-primary up to Class V and 150 ml per student from Classes VI to XII.

Breakfast to schools and colleges, and midday meals for colleges will be supplied through centralized kitchens. While seven centralised kitchens are available with Mana Trust and the Akshaya Patra Foundation, the State requires 29 new kitchens, which are likely to come up on market yard lands.

The government plans to spend Rs.299 crore on construction of kitchens, with 70 percent of the total cost borne by the government and remaining 30 percent by the organization that secures the tender.

Earlier, the previous BRS government had launched the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme in October 2023, which not only addressed hunger among students but also helped in increasing attendance significantly.

After commencing in 119 schools, with one school in each Assembly constituency, the then government expanded the scheme to 3,500 schools. It planned to expand further to all 27,147 government and local body schools across the State.

However, after the Congress party came to power in December 2023, the breakfast serving came to a halt due to lack of allocation and release of funds for two academic years.