TN CM urges Oppn legislators to push govt breakfast scheme

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday urged MLAs and MPs belonging to all parties to launch the children's breakfast scheme's expansion in a state-run primary school in their respective constituencies.

Writing to elected representatives, Stalin outlined the scheme, which would be 'carved in golden letters' in Tamil Nadu's history, for government-run primary school children.

The Chief Minister said order had been issued on June 7, 2023 to extend the breakfast scheme to all the 31,008 government primary schools, across urban and rural Tamil Nadu, aimed at benefiting 15.75 lakh primary students.

Already, 1.14 lakh students in Classes 1 to 5 in 1,545 government primary schools are provided breakfast on all working days under the Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme, which is the first phase.

The government has embarked on expansion considering the excellent outcome witnessed in the preliminary phase.

Stalin said he would inaugurate the scheme's expansion in Nagappattinam district on August 25 and it would be launched by ministers in their respective districts.

He invited elected representatives to launch the plan's extension in a government primary school in their respective constituencies.

MLAs and MPs belonging to his party the DMK, main opposition AIADMK, his party's allies the Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi and the CPI and CPI(M) were invited besides the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the BJP, in opposition ranks.

In his Independence Day address, Stalin announced the free breakfast scheme's expansion, scheduled on August 25.

Also, he had said Rs 404 crore had been allotted for the current fiscal for the scheme, which would be launched by him in a school in Tirukkuvalai, near Tiruvarur, where late Chief Minister M Karunanidhi studied. Tirukkuvalai is about 30 km from Nagapattinam, the district headquarters.

On September 15, 2022, launching the breakfast scheme in Madurai, Stalin, quoting Periyar E V Ramasamy, C N Annadurai and M Karunanidhi had said nothing -be it povery or caste- should be an obstacle to access education.

During the early 1900, when the Colonel Olcott School took shape in Chennai, it was social reformer Pandithar Iyothee Thassar who sowed the seeds for providing lunch to school children.

In a first, the noon meal scheme was launched in 1922 in a Chennai Corporation school by Mayor Pitti Theagarayar, stalwart of the Justice Party. Months ahead of independence, the British regime had put the noon meal scheme on hold, citing financial constraints.

Later in 1955, former Chief Minister K Kamaraj inaugurated the noon meal scheme and former Chief Minister M G Ramachandran launched the nutritious meal programme in 1982.

The scheme witnessed continuous upgradation during the successive AIADMK and DMK regimes. On July 27, 2022, authorities had issued a Government Order (GO) for the CM's breakfast scheme implementation. (PTI)