Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today announced in the Assembly that providing mango juice to school students was not possible as it might affect their health.

Her response came during the question hour when the Krishnagiri member, T. Senguttuvan, asked the government to consider giving mango juice to the children as the markets in Krishnagiri have been flooded with the fruit.

“Just because the cultivation is good there, it doesn’t mean the Government should provide the children with juice. It might result in stomach upset in many children. But we can think of improving the sale of mangoes,” Jayalalithaa said.

Earlier Social Welfare and Nutritious Meal Programme Minister V. Saroja said the Government had no plans to provide mango juice to the children along with the nutritious meal.

When the member pointed out to the Chief Minister that she had earlier announced that the juice would be provided to children, she said, “we say certain things on certain occasions. But change it later after analysing the pros and cons. Doctors do not favour this as they feel the kids might suffer dysentery. Hence the idea has been dropped.”

When DMK leader M.K. Stalin asked whether any other juice would be provided, she said the question had no relevance and asked him to pose a fresh question.