Contaminated food causing illness among students, insects in hostel meals, lizard in sambar leading to hospitalizations, cockroaches in hostel food, tasteless and unhygienic meals causing misery for students—these are the headlines in newspapers and on TV. Yet, no one has ever visited a hostel to check the quality of food or the hardships faced by students. Recently, during a visit to her own constituency, Home Minister Anita was stunned to find a cockroach in her plate of food. Displaying it, she expressed her embarrassment, saying, “Even my food had a cockroach.” This is not an isolated incident; the situation is similar in hostels across the state. In the past year, the Chandrababu government has shown no concern for the quality of students’ meals or the issues they face. Despite frequent reports of contaminated food in hostels and schools, there is no effort to ensure quality meals.
The coalition government has utterly failed to provide quality food in government hostels and schools. The YSRCP has repeatedly raised this issue in recent times. Recently, Home Minister Vangalapudi Anita personally inspected the substandard food served in a government hostel. She tasted the students’ meal herself and was shocked by its poor quality. She reprimanded officials, questioning how they could boast about their efforts when the situation was so dire. Furthermore, during her hostel visit, it was found that even the warden was absent from duty, reflecting the coalition government’s negligence.
Anita’s publicity stunt backfires
Home Minister Anita visited a girls’ gurukul hostel in Nakkapalli, Anakapalli district, her own constituency, accompanied by cameras and microphones for publicity. However, the stunt backfired. The visit exposed the deplorable conditions in gurukul hostels. Students complained about the lack of basic facilities, including the absence of CCTV cameras in the girls’ hostel. It was revealed that the warden left by 5 PM, abandoning the students. Despite instructions to provide fine-quality rice, implementation was nowhere to be seen.
Contaminated Food Incidents Under the Coalition Government
15.07.2024: 139 gurukul students in Naidupeta, Tirupati district, fell ill due to contaminated food; 7 in critical condition.
04.08.2024: Food poisoning at SDR School, Venkateshwarapuram, Nandyal; over 100 students affected.
– 19.08.2024: Contaminated food at PASA Trust, Kailasapatnam, Anakapalli; 38 children fell ill, 3 died.
– 21.08.2024: Over 300 students at Apollo College, Chittoor, suffered vomiting and diarrhea; 2 in critical condition.
– 25.08.2024: 25 students at Suryalanka Air Force Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bapatla, fell ill due to a failed experiment.
– 27.08.2024: Five female students at Tamarapalli Women’s Residential College, Srikakulam, injured by rat bites; treated at Narasannapeta Government Hospital.
– 27.08.2024: Food poisoning at BR Ambedkar Girls’ Gurukul School/College, Eleswaram, Kakinada; 62 students affected.
– 27.06.2024: Contaminated food at SC Boys’ Welfare Hostel, Muddanuru, YSR district; 7 students fell ill.
– 28.08.2024: Parents protested at Talluru High School, Gandepalli, Kakinada, over rotten eggs served to students.
– 28 & 29.08.2024: 342 students at Nuzvid Triple IT, Eluru, fell ill; 800 affected over 3 days, with 123 more on the 29th.
– 28.08.2024: Food poisoning at BR Ambedkar Boys’ Gurukul School, Naidupeta, Tirupati; 15 students affected.
– 30.08.2024: Contaminated food at Tribal Welfare Girls’ School, Jamiguda, Alluri Sitarama Raju district; 79 students fell ill.
– 15.11.2024: 56 students at Jyotirao Phule Boys’ Gurukul School, Satyavedu, Tirupati, fell seriously ill due to unhygienic food and viral fever from rains.
– 21.11.2024: Food poisoning at Jogannapalem Primary School, Denduluru, Eluru; 9 students suffered stomach pain and vomiting after eating eggs and biryani.
– 11.12.2024: Eight girls at Gomangi Mini Gurukul School, Pedabayalu, Alluri Sitarama Raju district, fell ill after eating leftover potato and peas curry.
– 05.01.2025: 26 girls at Chandragiri High School, Tirupati, suffered vomiting and diarrhea after eating undercooked rice and insect-infested sweet pongal.
– 21.02.2025: Children at an Anganwadi in Pedatanda, NTR district, fell ill after consuming boiled eggs and milk.
– 04.03.2025: 35 students at Tribal Welfare Girls’ School, Turakalavalasa, Paderu, Alluri Sitarama Raju district, suffered vomiting and diarrhea after eating cabbage and toor dal.
Mid-Day Meal Expenditure
- TDP regime: Rs. 450 crore annually
- YSRCP regime: Rs. 1,400 crore annually
YS Jagan’s Rs. 7,245 crore investment in Gorumudda
On January 1, 2020, the YS Jaganmohan Reddy government launched the Jagananna Gorumudda scheme to provide nutritious, quality meals to government school students. Unlike the TDP regime’s monotonous sambar and rice, Jagan’s government introduced 16 different dishes weekly, using fortified sortex rice to ensure taste and hygiene.
Over five years, Rs. 7,244.60 crore was spent to prioritize growing children’s health. To combat anemia, ragi porridge with jaggery, chikki, and boiled eggs were made mandatory three and five days a week, respectively. Feedback from 45,000 schools was collected to improve meals, with 93% of the 40.50 lakh students (Classes 1–10) enjoying Gorumudda daily. The remaining 7% (mostly girls in “special circumstances”) brought rice from home but ate school curries. Teachers uploaded data to the Integrated Monitoring System for Mid-Day Meals and Sanitation (IMMS) app for real-time monitoring. Monthly health checkups identified anemia cases, providing folic acid tablets and tonics, improving student health and reducing anemia.
In contrast, the coalition government has completely neglected mid-day meals. The quality of jaggery chikki has deteriorated, and no one seeks students’ feedback on meal quality.
Daily menu under Jagananna Gorumudda
- Monday: Hot pongal, boiled egg or vegetable pulao, egg curry, chikki
- Tuesday: Ragi porridge (10:20 AM), tamarind rice, beans chutney, boiled egg (12:20 PM)
- Wednesday: Vegetable rice, aloo kurma, boiled egg, chikki
- Thursday: Ragi porridge (AM), sambar rice/lemon rice, tomato chutney, boiled egg (PM)
- Friday: Rice, leafy vegetable dal, boiled egg, chikki
- Saturday: Ragi porridge (AM), rice with leafy vegetables, dal soup, sweet pongal
