‘Will feed you in the morning and at noon, you may please study’: Stalin tells students launching free breakfast scheme in Tamil Nadu

“And we completed it a century later by adding a breakfast scheme. The United States Department of Agriculture as well as countries such as France have such programmes. According to studies, schools that serve breakfast get more students,” he added.

Stalin said “breakfast’s importance in schools has grown significantly in the post-Covid era”.

“I can see the joy in the eyes of children when they receive it in schools,” he added in his speech after a breakfast session with the children at a Madurai school.

Stalin, who was also seen feeding the students with his hand, said there should not be any reason that “deny educational opportunities” to anyone.

“And it is inspired by the same Dravidian ideals that a class or caste should not be an impediment to growth,” he added.

Stalin said the concept of a noon meal programme arose from the Buddhist thoughts of C. Iyothee Thass, an anti-caste activist and social reformer, over a century ago.

“He said it first… about the importance of providing both education and food in schools. Later, in 1922, Mayor Theagaraya implemented the noon meal scheme for the first time in Madras Corporation. The British temporarily halted it, but later, the then-CM K Kamaraj reinstated it in many districts in 1956,” said Stalin.

“We continued it after the DMK took power. In the early 1970s, CM M. Karunanidhi expanded it to include a similar scheme for the children and pregnant women. Back then, the children were served something called ‘Baby Roti’. When M G Ramachandran was the Chief Minister, he increased funding and expanded it across the states,” he added outlining the contributions of all the chief ministers to the noon meal scheme.

Stalin said Karunanidhi was the one, who added eggs to the school meal menu in 1989.

“Initially, one egg per week, then two eggs per week. In 2007, he increased the number of eggs to three per week and added more nutritious items to the noon meal scheme. By 2010, he had made eggs a part of the menu five days a week, with banana added for those who do not eat eggs,” Stalin said, adding the late J. Jayalalithaa too improved the scheme by adding different type of rice.

The Chief Minister said that the decision to implement a breakfast programme was influenced by the feedback he received during a recent school inspection.

“When I visited a school in Chennai, the students told me that they rarely eat breakfast. When I asked the officials, they confirmed it. That’s when I asked them to implement the breakfast programme. Nobody should go to class on an empty stomach,” he said.

Stalin further said it costs the government Rs 12.75 per student.

“We see it as a government duty rather than a cost to the exchequer. I want to expand it and take it across the state… It is not a freebie, charity or incentive because it is the government’s responsibility. If our children are properly fed, they will be able to attend classes and lessons in a better way,” Stalin said.

“The government ruled by Kalaignar’s son should be the epitome of benevolence,” he added.

Stalin also urged the school officials and officers in charge to treat the scheme as they would feed their own children.

“We will feed you in the morning and at noon my beloved children. You may please study, study, study without any worries,” Stalin said, reminding education is a right and no one can take it away from the students.

“I am here for you, you concentrate solely on your studies… I want you to excel in all areas because that alone will make our Tamil society proud,” he added.

The breakfast scheme menu is designed to change daily to include a variety of breakfast items such as upma, kichadi, pongal, rava kesari or semiya kesari.

The first such scheme in the state, which pioneered the noon meal scheme a century ago and was later modelled by several states across the country, will benefit approximately 1.14 lakh children in the initial phase at a total cost of Rs 33.56 crore.

The phase will be rolled out in 1,545 schools, including 417 in cities, 163 in towns and district centres, 728 in rural areas, and 237 in remote and hilly areas.