The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : The meal scheme is already bigger in State

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The meal scheme is already bigger in State

Special Correspondent

Bangalore: While the Union budget has extended the midday meal scheme for all children up to higher primary level (till standard 8), the Karnataka Government has already brought all students up to standard 10 under the scheme.

This was one of the highlights of the last State Budget. This has meant a total of 70 lakh children from across Karnataka being covered under the scheme.

The extension of scheme at the Centre, however, is expected to benefit Karnataka by reimbursing a portion of the State expenditure.

“We are way ahead of the Union Budget, but this will help us make good some expenses,” Kumar Naik, Commissioner of Public Instruction, told The Hindu.

As of now, Rs. 374 crore is incurred on the midday meal, which includes both the State and the Central share.

Though the extent of benefit is yet to be known, Mr. Kumar expects that the expenses incurred on about 12 lakh children will now be covered under the Centre’s scheme.

There has been a consistent demand from several States to the Centre to extend the scheme to secondary schools and high schools. In recent letters written to Minister for Human Resource Development Arjun Singh, the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Tripura had sought extension of the scheme till the high school level.

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