Tamil Nadu's breakfast programme for school students: All you need to know

The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday announced a scheme to provide breakfast to students studying from class 1 to class 5 in state-run primary schools.

In the first phase, the scheme is being implemented in 1,545 schools in the corporation, municipality and villages. The scheme was inaugurated on the occasion of former chief minister Anna's birthday in Madurai today.

The Chief Minister Stalin in his inaugural speech said that in the first phase 1.16 lakh students will be provided free breakfast. Stalin said, "This will be further expanded. No one should think that this is a freebie. It's the duty of the government to do this."


To reduce hunger and financial burden
According to the CM, no poor and underprivileged student should drop out of school for the need of food. "Whatever economic crisis this government faces, the scheme should not be stopped. I appeal to all government officials to implement this scheme the same way you give food to your children," he said.

The first goal is to alleviate the hunger burden despite the financial burden, said CM. I am ready to make any sacrifice to eliminate the poverty in the Tamil community and alleviate the hunger of the children," the CM added.

Why breakfast
Referring to similar programmes in foreign countries, Stalin said school breakfast programmes are implemented in several states in the United States (US Department of Agriculture). He said the breakfast programme has been introduced in European countries, especially in France three years ago. "Many studies have shown that the provision of breakfast in schools increases the learning ability of the students and increases the attendance of students. And post- COVID, demand for breakfast programmes has increased, analysts say," the chief minister said.

"I saw the joy on the faces of the students as they ate their breakfast. Words cannot describe the joy I felt then. Dear students, we are serving you breakfast and lunch. Education is a right we have fought for. Education is one asset that no one can take away from us," he added.

The menu
The menu of breakfast includes rava upma, semiya upma with sambar, rava khichdi, semiya khichdi and rava Pongal. The breakfast will be served from Monday to Friday. A dessert will also be served to students on Fridays which will be either rava kesari or semiya kesari.

Focus on nutrition
According to the officials, students will be provided a cooked meal of 150-500 grams breakfast with sambar with vegetables to fulfil their nutritional needs.