Telangana opens ₹8-crore centralised kitchen in Karimnagar to serve breakfast in schools

A centralised community kitchen was inaugurated in Karimnagar on Wednesday to supply nutritious breakfast to students under the Telangana government's School Breakfast Programme. The facility, built at an estimated cost of ₹8 crore, will cater to 49,025 students in 669 government schools and 11 junior colleges spread over 17 mandals.

The kitchen will serve institutions in the Karimnagar, Husnabad, Choppadandi and Manakondur Assembly constituencies. It will be run by the Hare Krishna Movement Charitable Foundation, the implementing partner of the programme.

Inaugurating the facility, Transport and Backward Classes Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said the scheme had been launched as a pilot in Kondangal in December 2024. Attendance at the pilot location rose from 75% to 90%, he said, with improvements also seen in punctuality and concentration among students.

The government intends to take the programme to 23,106 government schools, covering around 17.72 lakh students. As part of the expansion, it proposes to set up one centralised kitchen in each of the State's 31 districts.

Mr. Prabhakar said the widening of the programme is expected to create direct and indirect employment for about 25,000 people.

Karimnagar MLA G. Kamalakar, Collector Chitra Mishra and representatives of the Hare Krishna Movement Charitable Foundation were among those present at the inauguration.