Nabarangpur: Students of Class 9 and 10 will no longer be deprived of midday meals. Under the new education policy, students from preschool to Class 10 will receive midday meals and, three times a week, nutritional food in the form of ragi laddu. On Tuesday, Odisha’s Minister of School and Mass Education, Nityananda Gond, inaugurated the Chief Minister’s Nutrition Scheme at the Umarkote Government Girls’ High School and made this announcement.
The minister himself tasted the meal. Later, at Swami Vivekananda High School, he distributed ragi laddu to the students. The event was attended by members of the BJP State Committee.
He stated that from today, students of Classes 9 and 10 across Odisha will receive free midday meals. Previously, only students from Classes 1 to 8 were provided with this facility. The implementation of the Chief Minister’s Nutrition Scheme will greatly benefit underprivileged students. The freshly prepared food was served to students on this occasion.
Distribution of Ragi Laddu in Nabarangpur by Education Minister
Key attendees included executive committee member Ramesh Sahu, ministerial representative Ashok Kumar Padhi, District Education Officer Chhatrapati Sahu, and Block Education Officer Ishwar Majhi, along with party workers. Similarly, at the Nabarangpur Municipal High School, local MLA Gaurishankar Majhi inaugurated the event as the chief guest. A total of 84 Class 9 students in the school received midday meals, along with ragi laddu for everyone.
Previously, 33,000 students of Classes 9 and 10 in the district were excluded from the midday meal program, causing dissatisfaction among students and parents. To address this, the state government decided to ensure midday meals and ragi laddu for all students without any discrimination.
Starting from the new academic year, approximately 2.45 lakh students from preschool to Class 10 in the district will receive midday meals, ragi laddu, and eggs three times a week, as stated by Assistant District Education Officer Dr. Reshmalal Nayak. The event was also attended by MLA Shri Majhi, Nabarangpur BEO Ramesh Ray, and school teachers.