Gujarat government school students to get breakfast under new scheme

In a move to ensure that government school students get an adequate share of nutrition along with education, the Government of Gujarat will be serving them breakfast every day. Over 41 lakh students from 32,277 government primary schools can enjoy a nutritious breakfast daily under the state government’s scheme namely Mukhyamantri Paushtik Alpahar Yojana or Chief Minister Nutritious Snack Scheme.

The scheme was announced by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. The Mukhyamantri Paushtik Alpahar Yojana is part of the ‘Suposhit Gujarat Mission’ to fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Poshan Bhi, Padhai Bhi’, as per a statement from the CMO.

Ensuring nutrition with education

From 11th December, government school students across districts in Gujarat will be served breakfast after the morning prayer every day before their classes commence. The nutritious breakfast would comprise of items made from peanuts, millets and pulses like Chana chaat, mixed beans, and sukhdi (sweet).

“The implementation of Mukhyamantri Paushtik Alpahar Yojana will have a positive impact on the education as well as nutrition, health and physical well-being parameters of students in government and grant-in-aid primary schools,” reads a statement issued by the government.

Government and grant-in-aid primary school students in Gujarat already get mid-day meal along with 200 ml of flavoured milk under the Doodh Sanjeevani Yojana. This is available in 52 talukas of tribal areas and 29 developing talukas of non-tribal areas across the state.

Pre-primary schools protest against govt

Meanwhile, almost 40,000 pre-schools across Gujarat remained closed on Tuesday to protest against the state government’s alleged failure to address concerns over registration rules. Members of the Gujarat Independent Preschool Association organised demonstrations in different cities and met Minister of State for Education Minister Praful Pansheriya in Ahmedabad. They handed over to him a memorandum highlighting their demands alleging that the state government has failed to rectify discrepancies in the registration rules.

The government’s ‘Policy for Regulation of Non-Grant-in-Aid Private Pre-primary Education Institutes for the State of Gujarat’ has differences in its Gujarati and English language versions as well, further contributing to the confusion.