Religious leaders serve, partake midday meals at Kuppegala School

In a bid to bring to an end the boycott of midday meals by upper caste students in Kuppegala village near here, three religious leaders led by Sri Basava Murugendra Swamiji of Chitradurga visited the Government school in the village and served the meals to the children.

The religious leaders, who had taken permission from the school authorities, arrived in the school just ahead of the midday meals, not only served the children after holding a prayer meeting, but also partook the food.

Later, the religious leaders interacted with the children and advised them to live harmoniously with all sections of the society.

School authorities said the turnout of children in the school had improved and reached normal level on Monday. Out of the 150 students in the school, the school on Monday recorded an attendance of 130, which is the normal daily attendance, a teacher said.

Speaking to reporters later, Sri Basava Murugendra Swamiji said it was unfortunate that a few “narrow-minded” people had tried to create differences among the different sections of the society by encouraging upper caste students to boycott midday meals cooked by a lower caste person.

However, soon after the programme concluded a group of villagers gathered near the gate the of school and complained to the religious leaders that the district administration was yet to resolve the problem of untouchability plaguing the village.