Karnataka: Villagers help turn midday meals into a special fare

MYSURU: The government higher primary school students of Hongalli village in Gundlupet taluk of Chamarajanagar get special food under the mid-day meals scheme every day. Under the ‘Akshara Dasoha Jolige’ programme, farmers of the villages donate vegetables grown in their fields, food grains as well as sweets to the school to ensure nutritious food for their children.
A big bamboo basket (known as Jolige) is put up in the school premises by the school authorities. Villagers drops vegetables like brinjal, drumsticks, onion, garlic, chillies, cucumber, beans, tomatoes and fruit like jackfruit, mangoes, papaya, bananas and food grains like ragi other millets during school hours.
They also donate jaggery, provide other items to prepare special sweets like payasa, gulab jamun, kobbari Mithai and other dishes. Interestingly, some philanthropists also drop packets of energy drinks, badam powder and other special beverages to be added to the milk supplied to school children under ‘Ksheera Bhagya’ scheme.
The Hongalli school authorities have developed a kitchen garden where vegetables and beans pulses are grown.
Headmaster Mahadeshwaraswamy told TOI that his school has introduced this novel programme to attract more students to government run school and said it also helps improve the children’s mental and physical growth. The school uses the items provided by both central and state government under the PM Poshan programme to enhance nutrition level of the children.
“Birthdays of every student is celebrated in the school, where students enjoy special food on such days. Villagers also serve special food to the children cooked for occasions like housewarming, weddings and other family functions. Students of all communities enjoy the mid-day meals sitting together in the school,” he said.
“I thank my school authorities and villagers for supplying nutritious meals along with special sweets, milk with special beverages,” Priya, one of the students told TOI.
Chamarajanagar deputy director of public instruction Manjunath said his department has promoted all school heads to make best use of the space in their schools to develop kitchen gardens to grow vegetables.