Southern States - Karnataka   

Krishna seeks aid for meal scheme

By Our Staff Correspondent

MYSORE Sept. 2. The Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, on Tuesday sought financial assistance from the Union Government for extending the midday meal scheme to students up to 10th standard.

Acknowledging the Union Government's assistance in the form of foodgrains for the meal scheme, which is restricted to students of primary schools, Mr. Krishna said his Government was prepared to extend the scheme for students up to 10th standard if the Union Government provided assistance.

Mr. Krishna made these observations while presiding over the inaugural function of JSS Mahavidyapeetha's Akshara Dasoha programme for students of government schools in Yelandur taluk.

The Government was incurring an expenditure of Rs. 203 crores for providing meals under the scheme for students of first to 10th standard. It had announced that it was committed to extending the scheme for students up to seventh standard from the next academic year. The Chief Minister said the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, had expressed his intention to make the midday meal scheme a national programme. "If the Union Government shows interest, the State is ready to extend the scheme for students up to 10th standard,'' Mr. Krishna said. The meal scheme would help lay the foundation for creating a huge human resource base in the country.

The rate of literacy in the State was 67 per cent. "In the next five years, the Government has set itself a target of achieving 80 per cent to 85 per cent literacy in the State,'' he said. Mr. Krishna said the Government drew inspiration from the "Anna Dasoha'' programmes of the Suttur Math, Siddaganga Math, Dharmasthala, and the Pejawar Math.

The Union Minister of State for Public Distribution, V. Srinivas Prasad, said the country had a record food production in the past few years. "There is no scarcity of foodgrains in the country. Arrangements can be made to provide wheat and rice for the midday meal scheme,'' Mr. Prasad said.

The Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education, B.K. Chandrashekar, said the Government was facing financial difficulty in implementing Akshara Dasoha Scheme. The Chief Minister had written to the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development seeking financial assistance.

The Congress President and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sonia Gandhi, inaugurated the JSS Mahavidyapeetha's Akshara Dasoha programme for students from first to 10th standard.

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