Government May Increase Egg Subsidy Under School Midday Meal Scheme
Karnataka is considering higher egg subsidies for schoolchildren as rising market prices create difficulties for schools managing nutritious meals within existing allocations.
The Karnataka government is considering an increase in the subsidy provided for eggs served to students under the school midday meal programme. The move comes after concerns that rising market prices are making it difficult for schools to manage egg purchases with the current allocation.
School Education and Literacy Minister Madhu Bangarappa said the government would soon hold a high level discussion with the Finance Department before taking a decision on increasing the subsidy.
The issue was raised during Question Hour in the Legislative Council by Congress MLC Ramoji Gowda. He pointed out that the amount currently provided for each egg does not match the prevailing market price.
According to Gowda, the government currently provides Rs 6 per student for an egg, while the market price has remained above Rs 8 for much of the past year. He also claimed that only about Rs 5 of the allocated amount reaches the school level, leaving teachers and school monitoring committees in some cases to cover the difference from their own funds.
Gowda urged the government to revise the subsidy immediately in line with market prices. He also suggested that teachers should be relieved of the responsibility of purchasing eggs and that an agency based supply system could instead be considered.
The minister said the government considers national price benchmarks while determining the amount allocated for eggs in the school nutrition programme. He acknowledged that schools with full attendance can face greater pressure because their egg requirements are higher.
Bangarappa said the average price of an egg across the country is currently around Rs 7. He explained that increasing the subsidy would require approval from the Finance Department and assured the council that discussions would be held soon.
The debate also highlighted a wider concern involving the workload of teachers. Gowda said teachers are frequently assigned duties related to SIR, elections and census operations, taking time away from classroom teaching. He called for teaching responsibilities to remain the priority in the interest of students.
The government has maintained that improving children’s health and nutrition remains an important part of its school welfare programmes. A revised egg subsidy could ease the financial pressure on schools while helping them continue providing the planned nutritional support to students.
