Due to drought in Karnataka, the State government has ordered to extend the midday meal programme to schoolchildren in 223 drought-prone taluks during the summer vacation for 41 days from April 11 to May 28 for government and aided school children of classes 1 to 8.
An order was issued by the Commissioner of the Department of School Education on March 30. Around 55 lakh government and aided school children from classes 1 to 8 will benefit. A total of ₹88.4 crore for the summer vacation midday meals programme, of which the Central share is ₹55.82 crore and the State share is ₹32.58 crore (60:40 ratio), has been released by the government.
The midday meals programme will end by April 10 for the academic year of 2023-24. According to the Centre’s Drought Management Manual-2020 Drought Mitigation Guidelines, the State government surveyed and declared 223 taluks out of the total 236 as drought-prone taluks.
