Mid-day meal scheme costing Rs 8,000 crore. Covers 14 crore children.

The Central government has allotted Rs. 27,258 crore for the education sector during the year 2013-14,while it is implementing the mid-day meal scheme for poor children at a cost of Rs. 8,000 crore, benefiting 14 crore children, said G.K. Vasan, Union Minister for Shipping.

The Central government has spent several crores of rupees benefiting five crore poor people under the Mahatma Gandhi National Employment Guarantee Scheme.

Distributing scholarships worth Rs. 1.10 crore to 600 poor students from different parts of Tamil Nadu under the ‘Vidya Nethram' scheme of Sri Narayani Peedam here, to enable them to pursue professional courses at a function,at the Peedam premises here on Sunday.

Mr. Vasan lauded the efforts of the Peedam in undertaking social service in the areas of education, health, rehabilitation and environmental protection.

Sri Narayani Peedam, Vellore, is gradually performing the functions of the government. India would become a super powered Nation, if it had many more persons like Sri Sakthi Amma, to undertake welfare activities for the poor, he said.

Sri Narayani Peedam has created 68 doctors and 150 engineers, by helping that many poor students pursue higher studies under the ‘Vidya Nethram' scheme in the last decade.

The Peedam is doing in a small way what the government does in a big way, he said.

Sri Sakthi Amma said that human beings alone have the opportunity of doing ‘dharma' (charity) to the less privileged and weaker sections of the society.

The objective of the ‘Vidya Nethram' scheme is to ensure that no student who gets the opportunity of higher education through allotment of seats in higher educational institutions loses the opportunity, owing to poverty.

TOI