The Telangana government lunch program, launched with the twin goals of improving the nutritional status of children in government dormitories and boarding schools and encouraging students from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds to attend school, is losing credibility.
The goal was to keep the children in school and allow them to focus on their education instead of working for groceries to support their families. Unfortunately, the goal appears to have been thwarted by increasing reports of food poisoning in state dormitories, boarding schools and colleges, which appears to have tarnished the government’s image. The past six months has seen an increase in both cases of food poisoning and student deaths in state dormitories, boarding schools and colleges.
Telangana Social Welfare Schools and Hostels were very desirable educational institutions with high demand for admissions. However, a series of food poisonings, student deaths and large numbers of sick students damaged the credibility of these institutions.
After the incidents, the students’ parents are considering sending their children to these schools, believing that there is no guarantee of their children’s lives and that it would be better to keep them in their villages and educate them in local schools , so that the children do be alive. Public educational schools continue to be characterized by poor accountability and infrastructure, low attendance, and low success rates.
The reports of food poisoning in state dormitories, boarding schools and colleges came at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic was already having a significant impact not only on people’s health but also on how the most vulnerable and marginalized boys and girls learn because the schools were closed for a long period of time.
Students’ educational standards have fallen in many ways as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. There was no lunch because students and hotels were closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, several students could not get at least groceries and eggs because they were at home with the closure of almost a year and a half.
Additionally, the Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the widening “digital divide” among students in the state’s village and tribal areas with little or no access to cell phones and computers. On the other hand, the online classes conducted in government schools and dormitories have proven to be of little help to the students, while the physical classes help them study effectively and do their homework.
The digital divide isn’t the only problem; Students in several government-run hotels and dormitories are also suffering from a lack of drinking water, clean toilets and sanitation, and some hostels in hilly areas do not even receive water from Mission Bhagiratha, the Telangana government’s landmark project that recently received a national award Has .
Although the state government is working to improve conditions in state schools through Mana Vooru Mana Badi, it has not introduced a similar program for state dormitories and boarding schools. Many educators believe that the mere development of infrastructure in government dormitories will not result in significant changes in dormitories unless there is proper maintenance and supervisor oversight.
Educators expressed concern about lack of funds, poor sanitation, unsanitary conditions, contaminated water and adulterated foods used in meal preparation, poor food quality and lack of supervision, as well as the lack of adequate medical facilities for dormitories and a significant delay in the Providing medical treatment to needy students in emergencies.
These issues should be addressed aggressively and proactively to instill confidence in government dormitories among students and their parents, as parents increasingly perceive these institutions as death traps for students from a variety of issues.
Regarding food poisoning cases, government dormitories, boarding schools and colleges have faced financial difficulties in recent years due to lack of funding.
Regarding cases of food poisoning, government hostels, boarding schools and colleges faced funding shortages because the government did not release the necessary funds as in the past. Private suppliers delivering groceries suffered from outstanding invoices for a long time, which indirectly affected the quality of the delivered groceries.
In some homes, however, special officers from the KGBV schools run the homes at their personal risk, despite the lack of money. Speaking at Bazaar IIIT on September 26, Education Minister Sabita Indra Reddy said nearly 9,000 students are studying in state dormitories, boarding schools and colleges across the state and are being provided with good food, housing and clothing.
She explained that this is in line with Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao’s vision to provide free education from kindergarten to graduate school.
For his part, the prime minister said at the inauguration of Adivasi and Banjara Bhavans in Hyderabad that the government is “spending 1.25 lakh for each student studying in state boarding schools”.
Despite the Telangana government’s claims and assertions, the fact remains that several problems, such as lack of sanitation, inadequate facilities and increasing cases of food poisoning, continue to plague state educational institutions.
RANGA REDDY: GIRLS SAY CAN’T CHANGE PADS
KGBV female students recently staged a massive protest in Ibrahimpatnam, Ranga Reddy district, demanding a water supply and protesting the poor quality of food served to the students. The students stated that “due to the severe lack of water in the dormitory, they could not even change their pads or bathe during their periods” and that “the situation appears to be dire”. The hostel staff gets water from private tankers, and the private water companies don’t deliver water regularly because they haven’t paid their bills.
ADILAB BATH: NO WATER FOR BATHING, WASHING THE LAUNDRY
On April 18, around 200 students from the Telangana ST Gurukula School for Girls protested in this regard. According to an inmate, many students suffered from health problems like itching because they didn’t bathe regularly. They claimed that even during their monthly periods, they were deprived of water for washing and cleaning. They urged district officials to provide them with sufficient water at their boarding school in Mavala Gram Panchayat.
POOR QUALITY RICE DELIVERED TO HOSTEL
There are strong allegations that old rice stored during the Covid-19 pandemic is now being shipped to government housing and that this rice is riddled with “white worms” and “thüttelu” and is extremely difficult to clean before cooking Rice.
When cooking with stale rice, damaged vegetables, contaminated water, substandard ingredients and cooking in unsanitary conditions, food contamination is a real possibility. Sajid Khan, acting president of the DCC, said during an inspection of a boarding school for minorities in Bangaruguda village of Adilabad Mandal that the provincial government’s claim of supplying hostels with high-quality rice is false and that the food is prepared with the common PDS rice will be delivered to the hostels.
RO PLANTS NOT WORKING: FAILURE OF MEANS
There are a total of 133 tribal ashram schools with 34,000 students and 905 tribal elementary schools with 20,000 students under ITDA, Utnoor in former Adilabad district.
RO plants were built at a cost of Rs 10 lakh each to provide students with purified drinking water, but many of them are no longer operational in the Kerameri and Sirpur (T) mandalas and need repairs. However, officials claim that repairs have been halted due to a lack of funds. As a result, students are forced to drink contaminated water as Bhagiratha Mission hostels in inland and hilly areas have not been supplied with water due to damaged plumbing and lack of electricity.
PARENTS FEAR THAT CHILDREN WILL DIE AT STUDIES
After completing her studies, Atram Kavitha from Jendaguda village in Utnoor Mandal, a Kolam-Adivasi classified as a Tribal Group at Risk (PVTG), wanted to become an officer to work for the uplifting of the poor, like her community in society, but her life ended abruptly after she died of an illness and her family’s dreams were shattered
When this correspondent visited the inland village of Jendaguda, Kavitha’s mother Mothu Bai stated that “if children go to the city for higher studies, they will die by leaving their villages” (“ekkuva chaduvuthe…pillalu chachipo-tharu” ) and that they do feel that they have evolved together since the death of their daughter and that they are now afraid of sending their children to homes outside their villages.
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