CM Stalin launches expansion of breakfast scheme for Tamil Nadu govt school students

According to the government, this is the first of its kind in the country where free breakfast is provided at all primary schools in a state.

The Chief Minister’s breakfast scheme was first inaugurated on September 15, 2022, on the occasion of former Tamil Nadu chief minister C N Annadurai’s birth anniversary in Madurai.

Stalin had earlier announced in the Assembly that to encourage the economically disadvantaged students to study, eradicate the nutrition deficiency among them and bridge the learning gap, the government will provide free nutritious breakfast to primary students. He had said that the aim behind the initiative is to ensure that students attend school without hunger. The government noted that the scheme would be implemented in a phased manner.

In the first phase, the scheme was rolled out in 1,545 in government primary schools in rural and urban areas to benefit 1.14 lakh students from classes 1 to 5. During the last financial budget, the state government had set aside Rs 500 crore to expand the breakfast scheme in all the government primary schools in the state.

As per the data shared by the state government, the items that are served to the students include rava upma, semiya upma with vegetable sambar, rava khichdi, semiya khichdi, pongal among other items from Monday to Friday.

Addressing reporters in Chennai while implementing the scheme at Saidapet constituency on Friday, Health Minister Ma Subramanian noted that in the inaugural phase, the scheme was initiated in 38 primary schools in the city so as to cater to 5,941 students. Now, the expansion will see 65,030 more students from 358 schools getting the benefit of the scheme.

“A total of 35 central kitchens would be set up in the 15 zones in the city to cater to the students in Chennai,” he added, saying that facilities which include vehicles that are needed to shift the food to schools and hotboxes to store food and serve them hot are in place.

Subramanian noted that how the free food schemes introduced by former leaders such as Sir P T Thiyagarayar, K Kamaraj, M G Ramachandran, and M Karunanidhi have benefitted the government school students in the state in the past and how CM Stalin is carrying forward the legacy through the breakfast scheme, a first of a kind in the country.

The DMK minister also noted that the government has no plans to expand the ‘Amma Unavagam’, a flagship programme of the erstwhile AIADMK government.

Stalin’s son and Sports Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin launched the breakfast scheme’s expansion at Chepauk-Triplicane constituency.