Tele-education to be launched in government schools soon

K. C. DEEPIKA

 

The government and IIMB to jointly implement the project

The Department of Primary and Secondary Education and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) will jointly launch tele-education in government schools. The collaboration announced in the State Budget will be an extension of the pilot project implemented in 2010-12.

The Satellite and Advanced Multimedia Education (SAME) project, introduced in 14 government high schools in Gubbi taluk, aimed at addressing the obstacles in the present system by providing satellite-based training for students of Classes 8 to 10 in mathematics, science and English. Animation and other innovative multimedia platforms have been integrated with the school curriculum to help students.

G. Kumar Naik, Principal Secretary, Primary and Secondary Education, said the government was planning to implement the project in the present academic year. “While the finer details and logistics are yet to be worked out, the scale of implementation could be bigger; it will definitely not be just a pilot project,” he added. Gopal Naik, Professor of Economics and Social Sciences, and chairperson, Centre of Excellence for Urban Development, IIM-B, told The Hindu: “We have not decided on the number of schools/ districts as yet because the criteria can either be the performance of government high schools or the district average in pass percentage. We hope to finalise it within a few weeks.” He said the research team of the Centre for Public Policy, IIM-B, created a design for an effective and sustainable Common Service Centre in rural India based on the findings of a study on Nemmadi Centres. They invited public and private sector organisations to form a consortium to implement the project. This was supported by the e-governance and the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj.

“We found improvements in pass percentages in 14 schools with the introduction of tele-education. I will attribute the success to quality inputs – good teachers in the studio who could explain concepts very well; animation, which played a big role in making concepts clear; and the interactive nature of classes which had question and answer sessions,” Prof. Naik said. Asked if there would be a difference in the implementation of the project in its second innings, he said, “We do not see the need to do anything differently at this stage but if need be, we can spread the classes over one whole academic year. Last time, we did it for a shorter period. Now there is enough time to plan. We have fine-tuned the technology. These classes will be very useful and relevant now because the State Board syllabus has been upgraded.”

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/teleeducation-to-be-launched-in-government-schools-soon/article4955475.ece

 

Tele-education to be launched in government schools soon

K. C. DEEPIKA

 

The government and IIMB to jointly implement the project

The Department of Primary and Secondary Education and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) will jointly launch tele-education in government schools. The collaboration announced in the State Budget will be an extension of the pilot project implemented in 2010-12.

The Satellite and Advanced Multimedia Education (SAME) project, introduced in 14 government high schools in Gubbi taluk, aimed at addressing the obstacles in the present system by providing satellite-based training for students of Classes 8 to 10 in mathematics, science and English. Animation and other innovative multimedia platforms have been integrated with the school curriculum to help students.

G. Kumar Naik, Principal Secretary, Primary and Secondary Education, said the government was planning to implement the project in the present academic year. “While the finer details and logistics are yet to be worked out, the scale of implementation could be bigger; it will definitely not be just a pilot project,” he added. Gopal Naik, Professor of Economics and Social Sciences, and chairperson, Centre of Excellence for Urban Development, IIM-B, told The Hindu: “We have not decided on the number of schools/ districts as yet because the criteria can either be the performance of government high schools or the district average in pass percentage. We hope to finalise it within a few weeks.” He said the research team of the Centre for Public Policy, IIM-B, created a design for an effective and sustainable Common Service Centre in rural India based on the findings of a study on Nemmadi Centres. They invited public and private sector organisations to form a consortium to implement the project. This was supported by the e-governance and the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj.

“We found improvements in pass percentages in 14 schools with the introduction of tele-education. I will attribute the success to quality inputs – good teachers in the studio who could explain concepts very well; animation, which played a big role in making concepts clear; and the interactive nature of classes which had question and answer sessions,” Prof. Naik said. Asked if there would be a difference in the implementation of the project in its second innings, he said, “We do not see the need to do anything differently at this stage but if need be, we can spread the classes over one whole academic year. Last time, we did it for a shorter period. Now there is enough time to plan. We have fine-tuned the technology. These classes will be very useful and relevant now because the State Board syllabus has been upgraded.”

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/teleeducation-to-be-launched-in-government-schools-soon/article4955475.ece

 

Karnataka is no 2 in teen pregnancies that is

Thursday, Jul 25, 2013, 14:15 IST | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA

DNA Correspondent  

Early marriages, lack of sex education, sexual assault are chief causes for motherhood among underage girls in state

Representational pic.

At a time when they should be focusing on education and charting out careers, many young girls in Karnataka are either pregnant or mothers.

Estimates from the Union Health and Family Welfare ministry show the state having second highest percentage of mothers in the 15-19 years bracket after West Bengal.

Healthcare experts attribute lack of sex education, early marriages and sexual assaults as chief causes of teenage pregnancies.

“The human body is still developing and undergoing changes during crucial teenage years. There are also several emotional and personal changes an individual goes through. Pregnancy is definitely not recommended during this period,” says Dr A Jyothika Desai, president, Bangalore society of obstetrics and gynecology.

Then there are early marriages. Experts say despite government regulations, many families marry off their girls before 18. 

As per National Family Health Survey estimates, 42% girls in Karnataka are married before reaching the legal threshold of 18.

“Thus education of parents is necessary in this aspect. Teenage marriages often result in teenage pregnancies and since the girl is married, society accepts it as normal, overlooking the health impact it can have on both the child and mother,” says KS Anantha Subba Rao, from the family planning association of India, Bangalore Branch.

Furthermore, experts say lack of sex education and counseling to both teenage boys and girls is negligible, and can play an effective role in arresting pregnancies.

Dr Desai says hardly any education on safe sex, use of condoms and contraceptives, ill-effects of teenage pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDS is given to teenagers.

“Some time ago, we conducted sessions with students of about 120 colleges in the city on such aspects. More needs to be done and on a larger scale right from the school level,” she says.

Ill-effects of teenage pregnancies
Becoming a mother during teenage is harmful for the psychological and physiological development of both the child and mother, say experts.

Doctors say mothers below 17 years have a 40% risk of anaemia, HIV, genital infections, and sexually transmitted diseases.

“Then there is increased risk of infant mortality and the mothers going into pre-term labour and delivery,” says Dr Desai. Moreover, often babies born to teenage mothers have a very low birth weight and are born after several medical complications.

Rao says that at a social level, a teenage mother almost always drops out of education and  has to deal with various psychological pressures.

“Only education and counseling can weed out this problem,” says Rao.

http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/1865413/report-karnataka-is-no-2-in-teen-pregnancies-that-is

 

Supreme Court keeps juvenile age at 18

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, July 17, 2013

First Published: 11:11 IST(17/7/2013) | Last Updated: 00:53 IST(18/7/2013)

 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday turned down the plea seeking lowering of juvenile age from 18 to 16 years and refused to admit any changes in the existing juvenile law.

The petition was filed in the context of a minor who was among those who were arrested for the gangrape, brutal assault and torture of a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in Delhi December 16 last year. She later died in a Singapore hospital December 29.

Now the accused will face the maximum sentence of three years as per the Juvenile Justice Act.

It may be recalled that the juvenile age was raised to 18 from 16 years in 2000 as part of the obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which was signed in 1992.

Rejecting the petition, chief justice Altamas Kabir, who headed the bench hearing the PIL, said there was no need to interfere in the matter.

The Supreme Court had admitted the PIL to lower the age by two lawyers Kamal Kumar Pandey and Sukumar Choudhary in February this year.

 The petitioner had then said, "To absolutely take away the judicial discretion in judging the offence by a juvenile up to 18 years of age is contrary to the criminal justice system."

 Women activists have been of the opinion that the government should try and ensure that the children do not end up committing crimes. It should rather consider changing the age limit every time a crime is committed by someone under 18.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Supreme-Court-rejects-plea-to-reduce-juvenile-age/Article1-1093733.aspx

 

Everything you wanted to know about mid-day meals

Here are some of the most compelling takes on mid-day meals and suggestions to plug the loopholes

 

First Published: Fri, Jul 19 2013. 08 50 AM IST

Photo: Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint

 

Mid-day meals in India’s government schools were envisaged to stop hunger from keeping children away from schools and to improve enrolment. Children do come to school and meals get served, but quite often, terrible accidents happen. Sometimes hygiene plays the devil, sometimes adulteration. What caused all the harm earlier this week was reportedly a can of pesticides. Investigating teams of doctors found organophosphorus compounds, mostly found in insecticides, in the meals—plates of rice, soybean and lentils. The lunch killed 27 children—all between age four and 12—at a government school in Chhapra district in Bihar, about 80km from the state capital Patna, whie more than a dozen are still hospitalized.

And as we are reading this, there are more reports of mid-day meals-related hospitalizations in Madhubani, again in Bihar.

Why are children dying of the food that is meant to nourish them and draw them to schools? Groundswell of opinion on mid-day meals seems to suggest a host of wrongs that happen in the name of providing food to children.

Here are some of the most compelling takes on mid-day meals and suggestions to plug the loopholes:

A research paper by Stephanie Bonds from the University of California, Berkeley, found the mid-day meals to be extremely successful in raising enrolment rates, particularly among children from the lowest socio-economic backgrounds. The effect, the paper says, was more pronounced for those with the least educated parents and lowest economic status.

Evaluating the impact of India’s mid-day meal program on educational attainment

A good case in point could be Tamil Nadu’s experience with its noon-cum-nutritious meal. The scheme improved enrolment and retention of children in schools and also checked drop-out rates. However, the author argues that with changing educational profiles and nature of problems encountered, the rationale behind the scheme should be re-examined.

Tamil Nadu’s Midday Meal Scheme

Another success story on mid-day meals is that of Akshaya Patra in Bangalore. The article highlights Patra’s highly professional management and operating model, the quality and delivery of services, and innovation of three-tier kitchens based on gravity flow, which may not work in rural areas. The author also points out criticism around Patra’s urban focus and its spending on marketing and fund-raising.

Akshaya Patra: Improving Education, One Meal at a Time

Journalist and author Mrinal Pande, too, observes that debates on mid-day meals in India tend to often be elitist, pointing out instances when entire discussion on the subject was carried out in English, a language largely incomprehensible to the actual stakeholders. She rues the fact that governmental policy-making on rural development largely gets framed in either poverty research labs funded by the United Nations, or developmental studies departments in universities in the US or Europe, far removed from the realities on the ground, bringing forth cosmetic measures instead.

Midday meals: welfare by rote, not reason

While policymaking happens in ivory towers, senior research fellow and director of the Accountability Initiative, Yamini Aiyar, points out serious lack of accountability in the implementation on the ground, especially in states such as Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The most disturbing outcome reported has been the reduction in the quantum of food served to students or simply not serving meals. In many schools in Uttar Pradesh, Aiyar’s Accountability Initiative found that the amount of food given was much lower than required by the government guidelines; many schools in Bihar didn’t even serve meals for months.

Meal scheme in ‘capability trap’

The diversion of funds and foodgrains, teachers preparing meals and spending less time in teaching and lack of food hygiene were also flagged in a parliamentary committee report, underlining institutional apathy and lack of concerted efforts in the implementation of the mid-day meal scheme.

Govt draws flak over midday meal scheme

An Indian Statistical Institute survey also indicates increase in primary school enrolment, with the largest and most robust increase coming from grades 1 and 2. Enrolment in grades 4 and 5 remained considerably less responsive to the scheme, suggesting that though effective at encouraging early school enrolment, the scheme may be less effective at retaining students or encouraging re-enrolment in upper primary school. A worrying observation was on the mid-day meal’s impact on learning: the report cites anecdotal evidence that the administration of mid-day meals distracts from teaching.

The impact of school lunches on primary school enrolment

Aiyar again argues that delivery of mid-day meals is hampered by a host of reasons—from non-availability of foodgrains to the absence of kitchen stores and cooks.

Delivery woes: mid day meal scheme

Another research paper suggests that the delivery of mid-day meal scheme may be improved by partnering with private entities and non-government organizations (NGOs) and by including chikki,sukhdi, fortified nutrition bar, and fruit in the weekly menu. This, he argues, will not only complement nutritional intake, but offer safety and variety and, by reducing the distribution time, may offer more contact time between students and teachers for studies.

An Evaluation of Mid Day Meal Scheme

Economist Amartya Sen has opposed proposals to serve biscuits and pre-packaged food to pre-school children questioning its nutritional value.

Amartya Sen’s advice: No biscuits in anganwadis

Despite all the flaws, a report by Pratichi (India) Trust says that the way to go on mid-day meals is forward and not backward. The report argues that the possibilities of this programme far outweigh the problems involved in its operation. One of the highlights of the report has been the tremendous impact of mid-day meals on parental aspiration of acquiring education for their children.

The Pratichi Report on Mid-Day Meal

Teachers such as Shweta Sharma from Jharkhand agree. While the primary school teacher is anguished at what happened in Bihar this week, she attests to the gains of mid-day meals in convincing parents to send their children to school. Despite the limited resources and absence of supervision, a clear chain of responsibility and accountability among teachers and the community will bring about accountability.

A Jharkhand teacher on why the midday meal should be rescued

http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/bRmJIopPOFNx5onIwCjNcO/Everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-midday-meals.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four million adolescent girls give birth every year in India

Last Updated: Wednesday, July 10, 2013,20:55    

 

New Delhi: Four million adolescent girls in India aged 15-19 years give birth every year in India, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Every hour, three of seven deaths due to complications from pregnancy, child bearing and unsafe abortions occur among girls and women aged 15-24 years, the UNFPA report said.

"Far too many of the estimated 16 million teenage girls (across the world) who give birth every year never had the opportunity to plan their pregnancy," said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon calling for greater attention to adolescent pregnancy on World Population Day.

Experts say complications from pregnancy and childbirth are the leading cause of death among girls in this age group in developing countries.

Adolescent pregnancy is not just a health issue, it is a development issue as well.

It is rooted in poverty, gender inequality, child marriage and lack of education. It often means an abrupt end to childhood, curtailed education and lost opportunities, the experts said.

To bring these issues to global attention, the theme for World Population Day this year is adolescent pregnancy.

According to the UNFPA, there are over 600 million girls in the world today, more than 500 million of them in developing countries.

They are shaping humanity`s present and future. With the right skills and opportunities during adolescence, girls can invest in themselves, their families and communities, the report said.

Frederika Meijer, UNFPA Representative of India and Bhutan said: "The greatest returns on investment come from investing in adolescent girls. Educated and healthy girls have the opportunity to reach their full potential and claim their human rights. They are also more likely to marry later, delay childbearing, have healthier children, and earn higher incomes."

Breaking the cycle of adolescent pregnancy requires commitment from nations, communities and individuals in both developed and developing countries to invest in adolescent girls. Governments should accelerate efforts to prevent child marriage and its consequences, and promote policies that support girls` rights, she said.

Adolescents and youth must be provided with age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education to develop the knowledge and skills they need to protect their health throughout their lives.

Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA executive director said: "Every young girl, regardless of where she lives, or her economic circumstances, has the right to fulfil her human potential. Today, too many girls are denied that right. We can change that, and we must."

 

http://zeenews.india.com/news/health/health-news/4-mn-adolescent-girls-give-birth-every-year-in-india_22862.html

 

CITIES » BANGALORE

BANGALORE, July 10, 2013

Children living with HIV still waiting for benefits

AFSHAN YASMEEN

 

The HinduHELPING HAND: The Vishesha Palana Yojane ensures that orphans, both infected and affected, get Rs. 750 a month, while children of a single parent get Rs. 650 a month. File Photo.

 

The government’s Vishesha Palana Yojane, a cash incentive scheme, is yet to trickle down to HIV-affected children in Bangalore.

Children in Bangalore Urban district living with HIV or those whose parents have been affected, are yet to receive the benefits of the government’s Vishesha Palana Yojane, a cash incentive scheme to ensure nutrition, education and care for them.

As per a list prepared by non-governmental organisations, 650 children were identified as eligible for the scheme.

As the scheme is running successfully in 16 districts in the State, HIV activists are demanding that children in Bangalore Urban district too get its benefits.

“Implementation of the scheme here has been delayed because of official apathy,” charged D.T. Thyagaraj, who heads the Karnataka Network of Positive People.

Much-needed aid

Chandrika, who has been living with HIV and working with others like her for the last eight years, said the scheme offered cash incentive of Rs. 750 a month for orphans (both infected and affected) and Rs. 650 a month for children of a single parent.

“Besides, beneficiaries get an additional Rs. 500 a year for education. This is a big amount for us families as we have to bear the additional expenses of medicines and nutrition, apart from our day-to-day expenses,” she said.

The list of 650 children was prepared jointly by three NGOs working in the field — Milana, World Vision and Arunodaya — on the direction of the former Karnataka State Aids Prevention Society project director Salma Faheem.

Unfortunate delay

Although the list was submitted in 2010, officials kept it in abeyance. Since then, the number of eligible children has come down from 650 to 223, as many are now over the age limit of 18.

“Besides, a considerable section dropped out because the Child Welfare Committee and Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike wanted to take up house visits before approving the list. Such visits would only lead to stigma and discrimination,” Ms. Chandrika said.

Narmada Anand, Deputy Director, Women and Child Development, said the list submitted by the NGOs was being processed by the Child Welfare Committee. “The scheme will roll out in Bangalore Urban district once the committee forwards the list to us,” she said.

The scheme, initially proposed to be implemented through gram panchayats and village health and sanitation committees, is now being implemented by the Department of Women and Child Development through the district AIDS prevention and control units and district positive networks.

It began as a pilot in 12 districts in 2010 and in 2012 was expanded to 16 districts in the State.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/children-living-with-hiv-still-waiting-for-benefits/article4898964.ece

 

FEATURES » SUNDAY MAGAZINE

July 6, 2013

Children of a lesser law

SWATI NARAYAN

The HinduA young girl fans a coal fire to roast corn cobs for a living. Photo: V.V.Krishnan

 

If the barrier of social prejudice is to be broken, private schools should take in poor students.

Radha (name changed) is one of the brightest children in her class. But it was a struggle to get her admitted to school. Her parents are of modest means — her mother a semi-literate domestic help and her father a daily-wage painter. They were keen to enrol her in a “good” school, but it took months to convince the principal of Radha’s legal right to free education.

Section 12(1)(c) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 insists that every private school must reserve 25 per cent of classroom seats for children from poor or disadvantaged families in the neighbourhood. This masterstroke, on a highly conservative estimate, will single-handedly open the door for at least one million eligible children each year across the country to receive eight years of free education.

Despite strident opposition from school management committees and parents’ associations, even the Supreme Court upheld this visionary clause last year.

But in the past three years, private schools have continued to use every trick in the book to deny children their rightful admissions.

Last year, Maharashtra filled only 32 per cent of reserved seats. This year too has seen a slow start. In Pune, for example, by mid-May only 4,000 of the available 20,000 quota seats have been filled. John Kurrien of Action for Rights of the Child (ARC), an activist education network, complains that “schools unnecessarily send eligible parents literally in circles over admission paperwork.”

Why are schools resisting providing admission to marginalised children?

An underlying barrier is social prejudice. After all, for the first time in independent India, there is a genuine nationwide effort to ensure that children — rich and poor, upper and lower castes — are schooled together at an impressionable age to break the shackles of centuries of social prejudice that has stymied educational, occupational and social opportunities for generations.

Another bone of contention is who will foot the bill? The government will reimburse private schools only based on what it spends on each pupil in its schools, which is often much less. For-profit private schools are, therefore, keen to pass on the burden to the remainder of the class. Unfortunately, this has pitched wealthy parents and children against semi-literate ones.

But the main impediment is lack of information. Ambarish Rai, coordinator of the RTE Forum with 10,000 NGO members across India, is unequivocal, “Spreading information is the first step.” Often, eligible parents from marginalised families do not know that their children are entitled to eight years of free education in private schools.

Few are aware that the law also supports the entry of children with disabilities. In addition, some States have devised truly progressive rules. Tamil Nadu, for instance, recognises transgender children as eligible. Andhra Pradesh explicitly includes orphans, street and homeless children. Gujarat has even insisted that teachers are professionally trained and sensitised for the proper integration of children.

In this sphere, Sister Cyril’s award-winning elite Loreto School in Kolkata has over the last three decades set an inspiring precedent. Half the children in the school hail from poor families living in nearby urban slums and streets and receive a completely free education. The remainder of the class pays their full fees to attend this prestigious institution. Across caste and class barriers, these children embody the ideals of cohesive, inclusive education. The right to education 25 per cent clause hopes to further expand this dream nationwide.

The capital, New Delhi, of course, has the most experience. In 2004, the NGO Social Jurist brilliantly petitioned the High Court to ensure that all private schools which receive concessional land from the government provide free admission to children from economically weaker section (EWS) families. Now, the government website tracks each of these enrolled children. Further, civil society organisations like Pardarshita diligently conduct enrolment camps across schools to encourage eligible children to apply.

In commercial capital Mumbai, Shobha Murthy, founder of Aarambh, is equally pragmatic: “We are preparing the children beforehand with extra tutoring in English. We are also building a support network for their parents to help them to fill admission forms and ensure that their children make the most of this opportunity.”

Now, the key rests with the middle class — to support rather than oppose — this transformative law to carve inclusive classrooms as the foundation for a more integrated India.

http://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/children-of-a-lesser-law/article4884148.ece

 

Press Trust of India  |  New Delhi  July 4, 2013 Last Updated at 17:25 IST

Education system failed to achieve objective, needs reform: SC

 

Education system in the country has failed to achieve its objective and it has to be reformed immediately, the Supreme Court has said. 

"It is unfortunate that today education instead of reforming the human behaviour, in our humble opinion, appear to 
have failed to achieve its objective. Instead we find troubled atmosphere in the society at large, which calls for immediate reformation with the efforts of one and all," a bench of justices B S Chauhan and F M Ibrahim Kalifulla said. 

The bench said that in comparison to earlier times, the literacy level has increased but it did not result in better human value which calls for transformation in education system. 

"With great respect, it will also have to be stated that bereft of improvement in the educational field when we pose to ourselves the question as to what extent it has created any impact, it will have to be stated that we are yet to reach the preliminary level of achievement of standardised literate behaviour. 

"In fact, in the earlier years, though the literate level was not as high as it now stands, the human value had its own respected place in the society," the bench said. 

The court passed the order on a petition filed by Maharishi Mahesh Jogi Vishwavidyalaya of Madhya Pradesh challenging the state government's decision to amend the law under which the university was set up. 

The apex court said it is still a matter of concern that so many people are illiterate and it is imperative that the institution, the teachers, the parents, the students and the society play a role in bringing transformation in the present system. 

"When the British rule ended in 1947, the literacy rate was just 12 per cent. Over the years, India has changed socially, economically, and globally. After the 2011 census, literacy rate in India, during 2011 was found to be 74.04 per cent. Compared to the adult literacy rate here, the youth literacy rate is about 9 per cent higher. 

"Though this seems like a very great accomplishment, it is still a matter of concern that still so many people in India cannot even read and write. The number of children who do not get education especially in the rural areas are still high. Though the government has made a law that every child under the age of 14 should get free education, the problem of illiteracy is still at large," the bench said.

 

http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/education-system-failed-to-achieve-objective-needs-reform-sc-113070400662_1.html

 

 

 

 

Govt to supply milk in schools to check malnutrition

Manu Aiyappa, TNN Jul 4, 2013, 06.31PM IST

 

BANGALORE: Karnataka is set to launch another ambitious scheme to prevent malnutrition and its resultant health problems among pre-school children aged between three and six years.

The children will be provided with milk in addition to supplementary nutrition at anganwadi centres to help them fight malnutrition and grow healthy,'' chief minister Siddaramaiah said. Siddaramaiah will announce the new scheme in his budget speech.

The woman and child welfare department, which has been entrusted with the task to implement the scheme, is gearing up to implement it. The children enrolled in Integrated Child Development Scheme and attend Anganwadi centres will be provided with 200 ml boiled milk supplied by KMF every two days.

The milk scheme is being implemented mainly tackle the problem of malnutrition and ensuring that extra milk available with the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) promoters of Nandini brand milk is consumed by those in need rather than converting it into milk powder.

Though the government had taken the steps to implement the scheme last month, it was delayed because of technical reasons.

But things have been sorted out now and we are egaring to implement the scheme,'' saidwomen and child welfare minister Umashree.

Animal husbandry Officials said the government may need about Rs 400 to Rs 500 crore for the scheme and it will possibly be earmarked in the budget to be presented on July 12.

At present, they said 50 lakh litres of milk is produced daily in the state, and this may go up to 60 lakh litres soon. The new scheme will facilitate in utilizing the excess 30 lakh liters milk produced.

But the major reason why the government has taken initiative is to check child malnutrition in the state, which is growing by the day specifically in Raichur district. Quite alarmingly, data collected by women and child welfare department suggest that between April 2009 to August 2011, 2689 malnourished children have died in the district of Raichur alone, and 4531 children are suffering from severe malnutrition.

Malnutrition has been the underlying cause of deaths of children under five years in the state since 2008. Even if it does not lead to death, malnutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies, often leads to permanent damage, including impairment of physical growth and mental development, '' G R Hiremath, a social activist fighting for the cause in Raichur.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-07-04/bangalore/40370768_1_milk-scheme-karnataka-milk-federation-milk-powder