<p>Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) will distribute milk powder to anganwadis and government schools as part of the “Ksheera Bhagya” scheme of the State.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The step was taken after the Department of Education put in a request that milk powder be given instead of milk. The State government had proposed distribution of milk to school and anganwadis.<br /><br />Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, KMF president G Somashekhar Reddy announced the change and said skimmed milk powder would be supplied to anganwadis and whole milk powder to children from Classes 1-10. <br /><br />“Around 51,000 schools and 64,000 anganwadis will be supplied with the packets, and around 1.04 crore students will benefit from this,” Reddy said. <br /><br />The milk will be given to children on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “We have instructed schools to mix the powder in the ratio of 1:4 and anganwadis in the ratio of 1:5. Every child will get 150 ml of milk,” he added.<br /><br />The scheme, which begins on August 1, will be flagged off by Chief Minister Siddramaiah and will go on till March 2014. The total cost of the project is Rs 429.25 crore — Rs 313.66 crore in schools and Rs 115.59 crore in anganwadis. <br /><br />“The packets supplied to anganwadis have a shelf life of 12 months, and those supplied to schools will remain for three months,” said KMF Managing Director A S Premnath. KMF plans to supply once a month to the schools and anganwadis. <br />KMF also announced that it would be hiking milk prices. “The price of milk will go up by Rs 2 from August 10,” said Premnath. <br /><br />They maintained that the hike in no way “indicates that the federation is facing losses. We need Rs 300-400 crore for for better infrastructure and for various schemes.”<br /></p>
<p>Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) will distribute milk powder to anganwadis and government schools as part of the “Ksheera Bhagya” scheme of the State.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The step was taken after the Department of Education put in a request that milk powder be given instead of milk. The State government had proposed distribution of milk to school and anganwadis.<br /><br />Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, KMF president G Somashekhar Reddy announced the change and said skimmed milk powder would be supplied to anganwadis and whole milk powder to children from Classes 1-10. <br /><br />“Around 51,000 schools and 64,000 anganwadis will be supplied with the packets, and around 1.04 crore students will benefit from this,” Reddy said. <br /><br />The milk will be given to children on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “We have instructed schools to mix the powder in the ratio of 1:4 and anganwadis in the ratio of 1:5. Every child will get 150 ml of milk,” he added.<br /><br />The scheme, which begins on August 1, will be flagged off by Chief Minister Siddramaiah and will go on till March 2014. The total cost of the project is Rs 429.25 crore — Rs 313.66 crore in schools and Rs 115.59 crore in anganwadis. <br /><br />“The packets supplied to anganwadis have a shelf life of 12 months, and those supplied to schools will remain for three months,” said KMF Managing Director A S Premnath. KMF plans to supply once a month to the schools and anganwadis. <br />KMF also announced that it would be hiking milk prices. “The price of milk will go up by Rs 2 from August 10,” said Premnath. <br /><br />They maintained that the hike in no way “indicates that the federation is facing losses. We need Rs 300-400 crore for for better infrastructure and for various schemes.”<br /></p>
