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Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin unveils expansion of CM's Breakfast Scheme, move to benefit 17 lakh govt school students
The scheme was inaugurated by Stalin at Union Panchayat Middle School in Nagappattinam’s Thirukkuvalai, the birthplace of Muthamizh Arignar Kalaignar.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Friday unveiled the expansion of Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme across the state in 31,008, a move that will benefit 17 lakh government school students studying in classes one to five.
The scheme was inaugurated by Stalin at Union Panchayat Middle School in Nagappattinam’s Thirukkuvalai, the birthplace of Muthamizh Arignar Kalaignar, a statement by the Tamil Nadu government said.
After completing one year in power, Stalin in 2022 had made the announcement on the scheme in the Tamil Nadu assembly.
“In urban and rural areas, the government has received information that most of the children do not eat breakfast as children who need to go to school leave early in the morning. While one of the reasons for some is the school being far away, for some the family situation is also a factor", he had said.
“Keeping this in mind, we have devised a scheme to provide breakfast to government school students. In the first phase, the scheme will be launched in some corporations, municipalities and remote villages. Nutritious breakfast will be provided in the morning on all school days to the primary school students in classes 1 to 5”, the chief minister had said.
The Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme for providing breakfast to government school students was inaugurated by Stalin on September 15, 2022 at Adimoolam Municipal Corporation Primary School, Madurai, where he served breakfast to the students and also ate with them.
A sum of Rs. 33.56 crore was allocated for the first phase implementation of this scheme in a total of 1,545 schools, benefitting 1,14,095 students. It included 43,681 students in 417 corporation schools; 17,427 students in 163 municipal schools; 42,826 students in 728 district and village panchayat schools; 10,161 students in 237 schools located in remote and hilly regions.
The scheme was further extended from February 28 this year and 1,12,883 children in 1,005 urban centres and 41,225 children in 963 rural centres have been benefiting as per the Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme App.
As per the government statement, the Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme is being implemented with the core objectives of making students come to school without hunger, ensuring that they don’t suffer because of malnutrition, raising the nutritional status, increasing the attendance of students in schools, and reducing the workload of working mothers.
The scheme is being implemented in Chennai Metropolitan Corporation, other municipal corporations and municipalities through integrated kitchens and School Nutrition Centres. In village panchayats and hilly area centres, the scheme is being implemented by the concerned village panchayats / self help groups.
On January 13, Stalin had announced in the legislative assembly that the government had decided to extend this scheme to children studying from 1st to 5th standard in all government schools in the state, in the year 2023-2024.
During the annual budget, the government had said ‘any sacrifice could be made to make schooling more widespread, to make learning pleasant and to ensure every child be literate without hunger’. It was also announced that a fund of ₹500 crore was earmarked for this good cause in the coming financial year.
Stalin had taken part in the inauguration ceremony and served food to the government school students studying from 1st to 5th standard at Thirukkuvalai Union Panchayat Middle School. He also had food with the students and interacted with them. This was a part of the inauguration of the expansion of the Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme to benefit 17 lakh students studying in 31,008 schools at a cost of Rs. 404.41 crore.
Here's what will be served under Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme:-
| DAY | MENU |
|---|---|
| MONDAY | RAVA UPMA WITH VEGETABLE SAMBHAR/SEMIYA UPMA/RICE UPMA/WHEAT SEMOLINA UPMA |
| TUESDAY | RAVA VEGETABLE KHICHDI WITH VEGETABLE SAMBHAR/SEMIYA VEGETABLE KHICHDI/CORN VEGETABLE KHICHDI/WHEAT SEMOLINE KHICHDI |
| WEDNESDAY | RAVA PONGAL/VEN PONGAL WITH VEGETABLE SAMBHAR/ |
| THURSDAY | SEMIYA UPMA/RICE UPMA/RAVA UPMA/WHEAT SEMOLINA UPMA WITH VEGETABLE SAMBHAR |
| FRIDAY | SEMIYA VEGETABLE KHICHDI WITH VEGETABLE SAMBHAR/CORN VEGETABLE KHICHDI/RAVA VEGETABLE KHICHDI/WHEAT SEMOLINA KHICHDI/ |
The quantity of raw material for breakfast provided to a student per day is 50 grams of rice / semolina / wheat semolina / semiya. Also served is 15 grams of locally available small grains / pulses for sambar and locally available vegetables, breakfast prepared with locally available small grains at least 2 days of the week, the government statement added.
