Bengaluru, 20 July

Students of government schools in Karnataka will now be served eggs six days a week as a part of the midday meal scheme.

The move comes after Azim Premji Foundation on Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government to support the nutritional enrichment of the State government’s mid-day meal programme in government and government-aided schools for three years.

Currently, the state government’s mid-day meal programme provides eggs on two days of the week to the students. "An alternative high nutrition supplement will be provided for those students who do not consume eggs because of cultural preferences, the foundation said.

Speaking after inaugurated the programme, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah lauded the Azim Premji Foundation for its “historic” initiative to provide nutritious meals to school children and stressed that quality food is important for mental health and good education.

According to him, MoU was signed between Primary and Secondary Education Department with the Azim Premji Foundation.

As per the MoU, the foundation has agreed to supply eggs for four days in a week. One egg to each student -- both to government students and also to government aided schools.

According to the foundation, eggs will be added to the mid-day meal for the 55 lakh students in these schools -- from Grade 1 to 10. As is well-known, eggs are packed with a wide range of essential nutritional content from proteins to minerals. -Salar News with Agencies