Headmaster turns guard to stop midday meal ration theft in north Karnataka's Yadgir district

BENGALURU: A government school headmaster is doubling as a security guard at his institution to prevent robbers from stealing rations kept in the school for distribution among students under the midday meal scheme in Yadgir district, north Karnataka.
Siddanna Gowda, 54, headmaster of the higher primary school in Malahalli village of Surapura taluk, has been staying at the school for three days since the taluk has reported several instances of midday meal rations being stolen away in recent weeks.
With schools working only online, the government is issuing rations - rice, dal, refined oil, salt and wheat - to students to ensure their nutrition does not suffer. After learning about thefts in the taluk, Siddanna was worried about the safety of the rations, which came after four months and are yet to be distributed among 200 students. Hence, Siddanna, who lives in Yalagi, 15km from the school, pitched camp at the school. His office table serves as his cot at night.
Siddanna told TOI, "Dal and refined oil are targets of thefts. When I received the consignment, I decided to stay back in the school till it is distributed among my students."
It is my duty to prevent thefts: Headmaster
We have received rations of 132 days which means it is a huge number,” Siddanna said. Asked why he chose to sleep in the school, he said, “As headmaster, I consider myself the head of the family (school). It is my duty to prevent thefts and help 200 families. We have started distributing rations from Thursday. The distribution will go on for a few days, and I won’t mind staying here in the interest of our children.”
Siddanna joined as a primary school teacher 27 years ago and was promoted as headmaster in 2012 and posted to Mallahalli school. Siddanna is a household name in the village with 300 houses. Lingannagouda, a villager, said, “This is just another instance of him taking care of schoolchildren well. Whenever a child misses the school, he is at the child’s doorstep to pressure parents to send their ward to school.”
Siddu Mailapura, a shortlisted physical education teacher of Morarji Desai Residential Schools for Minorities, is a product of the school. He said there were no facilities and teachers were not focusing on students’ development, but Siddanna transformed it all.