CM expands breakfast scheme to Classes VI to VIII

The Tamil Nadu government’s flagship ‘Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme’ was expanded on Tuesday to include students studying in Classes VI to VIII.

Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay inaugurated the State-wide expansion at the Chennai Middle School in Tiruvanmiyur in Chennai. Following that, Minister for Higher Education P. Vishwanathan launched the scheme for Madurai district in Government Higher Secondary School in Thumbaipatti (Kottampatti Panchayat Union).

The initiative, implemented under Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department, aimed to eliminate morning hunger, boost nutritional status, and enhance classroom attendance and learning outcomes across the State.

With this latest expansion, an additional 15.30 lakh students across 15,454 government and government-aided schools will receive nutritious meals every school day.

An officials press statement said that the State government has allocated an additional ₹217.63 crore for the current financial year, bringing the total financial outlay for the scheme to ₹724 crore.

In Madurai district, the rollout touched 574 schools, comprising 400 rural institutions and 174 urban schools.

A total of 69,730 students in classes VI through VIII are slated to benefit daily. To ensure seamless execution, a successful trial run was conducted across all designated schools on September 11.

To mark the launch, students across Madurai district were treated to a special inaugural menu featuring pongal, vegetable sambar, and sweet pongal.

Following the launch, Mr. Viswanathan along with District Collector Nishant Krishna served meals to students.

Addressing the gathering, Mr. Viswanathan delivered a speech reflecting on his own upbringing as a beneficiary of the midday meal scheme pioneered by former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj.

“If that midday meal scheme had not been introduced by Kamarajar, rural youths like me would not have had the opportunity to obtain higher education and step into the Assembly,” he added.

Praising the current administration, he added that Mr. Joseph Vijay was upholding Kamarajar’s legacy of corruption-free, pro-poor governance.