KARIMNAGAR: Eggs have disappeared from mid-day meals in several government schools across the district over the past week, with agencies implementing the scheme citing a sharp increase in egg prices and inadequate government reimbursement.
Under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, students in government schools are served eggs three times a week—on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays—to ensure they receive nutritious food. However, the recent rise in market prices has disrupted the supply.
The government reimburses agencies ₹6 per egg, while the market price has climbed to around ₹8, forcing agencies to bear an additional ₹2 per egg. Mid-day meal workers say the extra expenditure has become financially unsustainable, prompting most agencies to stop serving eggs.
The district unit of the Mid-Day Meal Workers’ Association has submitted representations to the District Collector and the District Educational Officer (DEO), requesting an immediate revision of the reimbursement amount. They said continuing to supply eggs at the current rates would result in significant losses.
Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, association district president Burra Manjula said workers had no option but to suspend egg supply as they were unable to absorb the additional cost. She alleged that despite informing the authorities, some headmasters and Mandal Educational Officers (MEOs) were pressuring agencies to continue serving eggs.
According to Manjula, the government provides ₹13 per student to serve two curries along with an egg. However, rising input costs, particularly for schools with low student strength, have made it difficult for agencies to provide the prescribed menu without incurring losses.
She further alleged that some headmasters had warned agencies that they would be replaced if they failed to serve two curries and eggs as per the menu. Fearing action, a few agencies have continued supplying eggs by bearing the additional financial burden, while most others have temporarily stopped serving them until the reimbursement issue is resolved.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
