Hyderabad: Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka launched the free breakfast scheme in Madhira Assembly constituency and said welfare programmes are investments in people, not freebies. He said the initiative would ensure that no child in Telangana goes to school on an empty stomach.
The Deputy Chief Minister inaugurated a Centralized Community Kitchen to supply nutritious breakfast to students in government schools. He said the Congress-led People’s Government introduced the programme despite financial constraints. The initiative aims to improve students’ health, learning ability and overall development.
Bhatti said the future of students is the future of the State. Therefore, the government decided to provide hygienic and nutritious breakfast every morning. Accordingly, the government launched the programme in government schools across Telangana, beginning with the Madhira Assembly constituency.
He said children who attend school hungry struggle to concentrate and understand lessons. Hence, the government introduced the free breakfast scheme to remove that obstacle and improve learning outcomes.
Free breakfast scheme to benefit 2.7 million students
Bhatti described human resources as Telangana’s greatest asset. Moreover, he said children should be nurtured and polished like diamonds to become world-class talent. He called the statewide free breakfast scheme the beginning of that vision.
The Deputy Chief Minister said the programme would provide hot breakfast to 2.7 million students. It covers about 2 million government school students and 700,000 residential school students. Meanwhile, he said the government partnered with the Hare Krishna Mission to establish mechanised and hygienic community kitchens. The Mission will complete permanent centralised kitchens across the State within the next three months.
In addition, the government provides milk three days a week and ragi malt on three days every week to improve students’ nutrition. Bhatti said sharing a meal with schoolchildren was one of the most satisfying moments of his political life.
He said governance is about public welfare rather than political power. Furthermore, he said the government is constructing Indiramma houses worth ₹5 lakh each for homeless families across Telangana. He added that many welfare initiatives originated during his People’s March from Adilabad to Khammam after witnessing people’s hardships.
Bhatti also highlighted other welfare measures taken by the government. These include sanctioning 4.5 lakh Indiramma houses at a cost of ₹22,500 crore, free bus travel for women under the Mahalakshmi Scheme, ₹67,000 crore in interest-free bank-linked loans for women, ₹10 lakh health insurance for poor families, distribution of six kilograms of fine rice per person every month to 10.6 million families, and direct transfer of ₹9,000 crore to farmers under the Rythu Bharosa programme within nine days.
Students’ Future is the State’s Future
Free welfare is not charity… it is public investment
No child should go to school on an empty stomach
Human resources must be polished like diamonds
Governance is not about power… it is about public welfare
The Indiramma welfare… pic.twitter.com/ppBbDEOuyA
— IPRDepartment (@IPRTelangana) July 27, 2026