Telangana Extends Mid-day Meals to Inter Students, Allocates ₹26,674 Cr to Education

The budget, estimating ₹2,34,406 crore towards revenue expenditure and ₹47,267 crore for capital expenditure, focused on welfare, infrastructure, and rural development.

The Telangana budget also introduced new welfare measures, including the extension of the Mid-day Meal scheme to intermediate students in government junior colleges and the distribution of retrofitted motorised vehicles to differently-abled students pursuing intermediate education.

"We are now extending a new Midday Meal Scheme to students pursuing Intermediate education in Government Junior Colleges as well. Adolescence is a highly crucial stage of life, and the nutrition received at this age determines their learning ability and life expectancy," Vikramarka said in his budget speech.

"Our government is deeply committed to students and their empowerment. With the objective that physical disability should in no way become an obstacle to the education and progress of differently-abled students, and with the aim of providing suitable support to them, we have decided to distribute Retrofitted Motorised Vehicles to differently-abled students pursuing Intermediate education," he added.

₹1,000 crore has been earmarked for infrastructure development at Osmania University and ₹400 crore for Veernari Chakali Ailamma Women's University.

A substantial share of the allocations has been directed towards rural and infrastructure sectors. Panchayat Raj and Rural Development department received the highest allocation of ₹33,688 crore, followed by ₹26,674 crore allocated to the Education department and ₹22,615 crore to the Irrigation department.

"The State can develop only when villages develop. That is why this Budget has given special emphasis to rural employment. We are ushering in a new phase for Panchayat roads. In December 2025, elections to 12,702 Gram Panchayats were conducted peacefully. As a result, the Government of India released ₹1,597 crore in accordance with the recommendations of the 15th Finance Commission. We provided five days of comprehensive training to all elected Sarpanches," the Telangana Finance Minister said.

The Power department was allocated ₹21,285 crore, while Municipal Administration and Urban Development was earmarked ₹17,907 crore.

The Health sector received ₹13,679 crore, Roads and Buildings ₹12,789 crore, and the Home department ₹11,907 crore. From a cursory look, social welfare remains a key priority, with ₹11,784 crore for Scheduled Castes welfare, ₹7,937 crore for Scheduled Tribes welfare, and ₹3,769 crore for Backward Classes welfare.

The housing department was allocated ₹7,430 crore, while ₹3,143 crore was set aside for the Women and Child Welfare department. The Industries department received ₹3,490 crore, and ₹2,654 crore was earmarked under the H-CITI (Hyderabad City Innovative and Transformative Infrastructure) scheme.

Among other allocations, ₹1,529 crore was provided for Animal Husbandry, ₹1,224 crore for Tourism, ₹998 crore for Labour, ₹875 crore for IT, and ₹258 crore for Handlooms. The government also set aside ₹500 crore for Godavari Pushkaralu.

Focusing on youth and skilling, the government announced a monthly scholarship of ₹2,000 for trainees in 118 Advanced Technology Centres across the state. An allocation of ₹6,000 crore was made for the Rajiv Yuva Vikasa programme.

- ANI