The Telangana School Education Department and various state corporations that organize boarding schools and colleges are cautious in view of the ongoing LPG supply crisis caused by the Middle East situation. However, authorities said no schools have reported any problems so far.
The Department of Consumer Affairs, Food and Civil Supplies issued a government order on March 13 after a video conference with the Union government and set up both state and district committees to monitor power supply. However, school representatives are not members of any committee.
The district evaluation meetings conducted by the district collectors also did not specifically deal with LPG supply and its impact on the day-to-day running of the school. Only a few officials categorically stated that allocation of LPG to schools will be given priority to the basic sectors.
In one such survey conducted by Nalgonda District Collector B. Chandrashekar on Saturday, he obtained details regarding available stock, gas supply and daily consumption patterns in various residential schools and hostels.
He said, “Headmasters and officials from welfare departments must ensure that students in hostels, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas and boarding schools do not face any disruption of meals on the pretext of lack of gas supply.”
According to Director of School Education E. Naveen Nicolas, no school in the state has reported any problems so far. Since school midday meal programs are run by local self-help groups that fall under the Domestic LPG category, supply is not affected and has priority.
According to the ministry, the state has 24,972 schools, most of which are local physical schools (24,219), followed by Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (495), model schools (194), urban residential schools (29) and Telangana Residential Educational Institutions Society schools (35).
“There are nearly 9,000 schools that rely only on LPG for catering. Among them, about 4,000 are larger schools with higher student numbers, while the rest are primary and upper primary schools. Some also have induction cookers,” said Mr Naveen Nicolas, adding that a comprehensive review will be carried out and an action plan released.
Most of the remaining schools depend on local firewood for midday meals.
In Hyderabad, several school principals and administrators are not concerned because meals are supplied from centralized kitchens run by trusts or NGOs.
For example, the Manna Trust delivers mid-day meals to 950 schools in Hyderabad and the neighboring districts of Ranga Reddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri serving about 80,000 students daily.
“All our operations are steam-based and use firewood and briquettes (compressed blocks of coal). LPG consumption is minimal for workers and required supplies are available,” said Ramana Reddy, manager of Manna Trust.
School administrators also note that the academic calendar and midterms are critical times for students. The last working day for schools in Telangana is 23rd April.
It is also the first time that the Telangana Secondary School Certificate (Class X) exam will follow a schedule similar to the Central Board of Secondary Education, with three to five days between each exam, in a total 33-day schedule that began on Saturday.
Published – 15 March 2026 19:51 IST
