Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced on Wednesday, July 27, that the state government will soon provide free breakfast for students of Classes 1 to 5 in government schools. The Tamil Nadu government has allocated Rs 33.56 crore for this scheme. In its first phase, the scheme will be introduced in a few districts and remote villages through local government bodies, after which it will be extended throughout the state, a Government Order said. Around 1.14 lakh children in Classes 1 to 5 in 1,545 government primary schools will benefit from the scheme in the academic year 2022-23.
At a function held in a government school in Chennai, CM Stalin told the students that since they were coming to school in a hurry in the morning and skipping breakfast, the government has decided to provide breakfast in government schools. The Chief Minister added that he signed the Government Order for this scheme on Tuesday, July 26. He said that both physical and mental health are important for one’s well-being and if students are confident in themselves, studies will not seem like a problem. The Chief Minister also said that the scheme would encourage students to attend school and help in reducing nutritional deficiency in students.
The Chief Minister signed a Government Order which said, “Students are unable to eat breakfast in the morning either because they have to wake up early to leave for school or because of their family’s economic condition. Keeping this in mind, we have introduced this (providing breakfast in schools) scheme. During the first phase, this scheme will be introduced in certain districts and remote villages in the state with the help of the local government bodies. After this, the scheme will be extended to the whole state.”
The order mentioned that Rs 33.56 crore has been allocated for this scheme. It also added that the ingredients used for preparing breakfast should be approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the food should be tried by school management before serving it to students to ensure that it is of good quality. The dishes that will be offered to the students include upma, khichdi and pongal served with vegetable sambar. It may be recalled that Tamil Nadu was the first state to provide midday meals to government school students.
(With PTI inputs)