U.T. Khader, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, said on Thursday that the State government’s Ksheera Bhagya project to provide milk to more than one crore students in the State is a visionary scheme as it will help maintain children’s health.
“Healthy children will help build a strong society,” said Mr. Khader, who is in charge of the district.
He was speaking after launching the scheme at the New Government High School on Antargange Road here. The scheme was formulated keeping rural poor students in mind, he said. A healthy body will help students achieve educational progress, Mr. Khader noted.
He called upon parents to give time to academic activities of their wards as the government was fulfilling most needs of the children in the form of free uniforms and bicycles. The Minister stressed the role of teachers and the officials of the Education Department in reaching such programmes to the beneficiaries and implement them effectively.
Beneficiaries
In all, 1,46,800 children, including students of government and aided schools in Kolar district, will benefit under the scheme.
Presiding over the function, MLA Varthur Prakash, while terming the scheme as good, criticised the government for launching it “in a hurry”. “It was started in a hurry without much preparation. Utensils and LPG supply are yet to reach the schools,” he said.
MLC D.S. Veeraiah, zilla panchayat president Chowdeshwari, Deputy Director of Public Instruction S.V. Padmanabh, Additional Deputy Commissioner V. Venkateshamurthy, zilla panchayat Chief Executive Officer S.M. Zulfikar Ullah, Kolar-Chickballapur Milk Union Ltd. president Manjunatha Reddy and KMF director N. Hanumesh participated.
