CM Vijay Launches Expanded Breakfast Scheme for Classes 6 to 8, Covering 15.30 Lakh More Students

Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Tuesday, September 22, launched the expanded Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme at the Gandhi Gramam Middle School in Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai, where he served pongal, sambar and a sweet to students and sat down to eat with them.

The expansion extends the free morning meal, until now available to students of Classes 1 to 5, to middle-school students in government and government-aided schools for the first time, covering an estimated 15.30 lakh additional children in 15,454 schools.

With the expansion, the scheme now provides breakfast to close to 35 lakh students across Tamil Nadu. The government has allocated an additional Rs 217.63 crore for the extension, taking the total outlay for the scheme to about Rs 724 crore.

Statewide implementation began on Tuesday except in Chengalpattu and Tiruppur districts, where the rollout has been deferred because the Model Code of Conduct is in force ahead of the Assembly by-elections in Madurantakam and Dharapuram.

The DMK criticised the launch, with party spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan saying the breakfast scheme had been introduced by former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and alleging that its name had been changed to deny him credit.