Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M K Stalin’s Breakfast Scheme has decided to expand to 31,000 government schools across the state, benefitting 17 lakh students. It was initially targeted to provide nutritious breakfast to 1,14,095 students in 1,545 government schools.
Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme
The Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme was launched by the TN Chief Minister, M K Stalin on September 15, 2022. It was established under Rule 110 where the CM could make an announcement or statement, however, the opposition will not have the right to give their opinions or comment on the same.
Earlier, it focused on providing breakfast to primary school children from 1st to 5th standard, studying in government schools every working day. It was implemented to ensure that hunger should not be a barrier to education.
In the first phase of the scheme, municipalities, corporations, and panchayats were selected on the basis of the high prevalence of anemia as per the National Family Health Survey – 5 (NHFS) data and economically backward classes as per the State Balanced Growth Fund (SBGF). Habitations of Tribal population and inaccessibility of the areas are also covered under this scheme.
Following are the food items provided to students on working days under this scheme:
|
Days |
Menu Type |
Details of Menu |
|
Monday |
Uppama type |
Rava Uppama + Vegetable Sambhar/ Vermicelli Uppama + Vegetable Sambhar/ Rice Uppama + Vegetable Sambhar/ Wheat Rava Uppama + Vegetable Sambhar |
|
Tuesday |
Kitchadi type |
Rava Vegetable Kitchadi/ Vermicelli Vegetable Kitchadi/ Sorghum Vegetable Kitchadi/ Wheat Rava Vegetable Kitchadi |
|
Wednesday |
Pongal type |
Rava Pongal + Vegetable Sambhar/ Pongal + Vegetable Sambhar |
|
Thursday |
Uppama type |
Vermicelli Uppama + Vegetable Sambhar/ Rice Uppama + Vegetable Sambhar/ Rava Uppama + Vegetable Sambhar/ WheatRava Uppama + Vegetable Sambhar |
|
Friday |
Sweet type |
Sweet Pongal/ Rava Kesari/ Vermicelli Kesari |
The Press Release said that though the Union Government in its New Education Policy has suggested that breakfast should be provided to school students along with a mid-day meal, has not made any effort to implement the scheme. However, the Tamil Nadu government has implemented the scheme in different phases and is now expanding it to the entire State.
