Hyderabad: The nutritious breakfast drink provided to students in government schools across Telangana by the State government in collaboration with Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Trust helped in increasing enrollments significantly. As many as 17.68 lakh children enrolled in various government schools as on October 2024 giving much needed impetus for teachers to impart education to children. Rangareddy district topped the list with over 1.40 lakh enrollments followed by 1.08 lakh enrollments in Sangareddy and 98,014 enrollments in Nizamabad. Identifying the importance of nutritious breakfast although midday meal is provided to students, the State government in collaboration with the trust started providing nutritious breakfast in 2016. SaiSure, a balanced micronutrient-rich ragi drink laced with jaggery, were provided to children, explained Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna Trustee and CEO, Kadali Anand Kumar, in an interaction with Deccan Chronicle. The response for the initiative was normal in north Telangana when it was launched in 2016 but after Covid-19 it gained momentum after the schools were reopened in 2021 with teachers from government schools in erstwhile Nalgonda, Karimnagar and Medak requesting to supply nutritious breakfast. Accordingly, all the government schools in the State were covered resulting in the increase in enrollments, Kumar said. “We (the State government and Sri Sathya Sai Annapoorna) together are spending Rs.12 per child every month for providing the breakfast drink,” he said. Explaining the logistics involved in the entire process, Kumar said the delivery of the fortified SaiSure ragi generally starts from the trust’s fortified facility at Muddenahalli (Chikkaballapur) near Bangalore. “From there, it is first transported to Hyderabad, where we have partnered with Navatha transport for further distribution. It then delivers to all the 32 districts across the State,” he said. From each district, the product is moved to mandal education offices, which are responsible for ensuring the ragi and jaggery reach schools concerned. The entire supply chain heavily involves government officials, ensuring that the last-mile delivery is effectively managed. In all, around 600 mandal points are engaged in this supply chain management process. From these points, the product is further distributed to schools in each mandal. “The entire coordination requires significant engagement and depending on the demand, we may produce and deliver either once or twice a month, to maintain freshness for consumption,” Kumar added. Highest enrollments in top 10 districts as on October 2024 District Enrollment Rangareddy 1.40 lakh Sangareddy 1.08 lakh Nizamabad 98,014 Medchal Malkajgiri 87,141 Siddipet 73,944 Kamareddy 73,992 Vikarabad 73,772 Nalgonda 72,269 Medak 69,005 Khammam 65,394
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