Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin inaugurated the fifth and most extensive phase of the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme at St Joseph’s Primary School, Mylapore, today. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, the chief guest, accompanied the state leader in distributing breakfast to the students.
The programme, initiated as a pilot in 2022, has gradually increased to reach most of the government-aided primary schools. With the addition today, it has now been rolled out to 2,430 urban government-aided primary schools, covering an additional 3.05 lakh children. Overall, over 20.59 lakh students in Tamil Nadu will get a free healthy breakfast daily.
Mr Stalin, during the ceremony, described himself as feeling “energetic like a child” after breakfast with students. He also gave a warm welcome to Bhagwant Mann, highlighting how the scheme has grown from a pilot in Madurai to a model followed even outside India. The scheme now benefits more than 20 lakh students, with an amount of Rs 600 crore spent every year. He said, “I would not call this an expense; this is a social investment. No student will come to school hungry in the morning from now on.”
Mr Stalin applauded its concrete advantages in terms of increased attendance, greater memory and learning capacity, physical and mental well-being, and lower malnutrition. He also gave credit to Tamil Nadu, saying that “Canada has brought the breakfast scheme now, it’s a matter of pride that we ignited the fire for this scheme first.”
State government officials said that nearly 88% of government and aided school children at the primary level are now covered by the scheme, more than 90% in rural belts and nearly 85% in urban belts, without affecting the consumption of mid-day meals. To cater to the demand, centralised kitchens provide such items as pongal, kichdi, or upma, along with dhal and sambar, which are transported in vans to schools.
Udhayanidhi Stalin, who was at the function, reiterated the close relations between Tamil Nadu and Punjab. He welcomed the scheme’s evolution from a pilot to a well-established model of welfare, now attracting the attention of other states in India and even abroad. By providing a nutritious breakfast, he pointed out, the scheme also addresses the issue of malnutrition in children.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, hailing Tamil Nadu’s successes in the fields of education, healthcare, and infrastructure, showed interest in bringing a similar breakfast scheme to Punjab.
