Telangana bets on hot meals to keep junior college students in class
When Finance Minister Bhatti Vikramarka allocated funds for a meals scheme for Intermediate students in the 2026-27 state budget on March 20, Telangana became the second state in the country to introduce such a support scheme. Andhra Pradesh had announced a similar initiative in January 2025. "No child in Telangana should begin a school day on an empty stomach," he said while presenting the scheme's details in the Assembly.The scheme will benefit roughly two lakh students across 430 government junior colleges — and for many of them, it means one fewer reason to drop out. It has two components: a morning drink and a hot afternoon meal. From the 2026-27 academic year, the state also plans a breakfast programme spanning pre-primary to Intermediate — milk on three days a week, ragi malt on the remaining three.
The basis of the scheme is quite sound. Adolescence is a nutritionally precarious stage. Students from poor families who choose government junior colleges often leave home without adequate breakfast and cannot afford lunch. Hunger drives them to skip afternoon classes — and eventually, school altogether. A hot meal, studies consistently show, is as much a pedagogical tool as it is a welfare measure.
Telangana's government is betting ₹1,400 crore annually that it is worth it. The scheme is not purely a nutritional push — it is also tied to an education reform. The state has decided to merge Intermediate with schooling under a plus-2 model. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has said the shift is long overdue and that several other states have already adopted it. Class X board exams, he added, will continue unchanged.
The announcement has resonance beyond policy. Years ago, Telugu media reported a group of lecturers in Nalgonda district pooling resources to provide lunch for their students, having noticed most arrived with empty tiffin boxes. The initiative was widely commended — a quiet signal that the need existed long before the state acted.
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That need was formally voiced by the Telangana Government Junior Lecturers Association, which had been pushing successive governments to extend mid-day meals to junior colleges. Association president Dr. P. Madhusudhan Reddy repeatedly criticised the erstwhile BRS government for not honouring a promise made by then Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao. The association had raised the demand with the current CM nearly a year ago, citing students skipping lunch due to family finances.
After the budget announcement, lecturers, principals and students gathered at colleges across districts to express their appreciation — through posters, milk showers and group meetings. For them, it was a long-pending solution.
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