The Chitradurga district administration will begin distributing supplementary nutrition to government school students in mine-affected areas.
Chitradurga
A new initiative to distribute supplementary nutritional food to students in government primary and high schools across mine-affected taluks will commence on November 3, announced Deputy Commissioner T. Venkatesh. He instructed officials from the Education Department to ensure effective and transparent implementation of the programme.
Presiding over a meeting at the Deputy Commissioner’s office, Venkatesh said the scheme aims to combat malnutrition, anemia, and micronutrient deficiencies among students in Chitradurga, Hosadurga, Holalkere, and Molakalmuru taluks. Funded under the KMER-C CEP-MIZ project, the programme seeks to improve children’s physical health, cognitive growth, and academic performance in mining regions.
The Deputy Commissioner emphasized that school headmasters, SDMC chairpersons, and parent representatives must form purchasing committees to procure quality food ingredients locally—such as pulses, vegetables, and fruits—directly from farmers and horticulture outlets. All bills and vouchers must be duly verified and recorded. Like the mid-day meal scheme, the supplementary food programme should be managed responsibly by teachers and SDMC members, he said.
District Panchayat CEO Dr. S. Akash urged taluk-level officials to closely monitor implementation, while School Education Deputy Director M.R. Manjunath detailed that over 63,000 students across 1,013 government schools will benefit. The menu will include 50 grams of pulses daily, with items such as chickpeas, green gram, groundnuts, and fruits provided on a rotational basis.
Education officials Girija, Nirmala Devi, Srinivas, and others participated in the meeting, stressing the importance of ensuring nutritious and hygienic meals for all schoolchildren in the affected regions.
