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The breakfast scheme for government school students from class 1 to 5 was launched in Madurai on Thursday by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin who served and ate the food along with the children.
Inaugurating the programme, Stalin said the scheme would bring beneficial change in the lives of the poor people and billed the initiative as one that would earn a place in history.
Citing similar initiatives in the US and Europe, he said several studies have concluded that such breakfast programmes led to improvement in students’ learning skills and also their school attendance.
The vision of iconic leaders Periyar E V Ramasamy, C N Annadurai and M Karunanidhi was that nothing -- be it poverty or caste -- should be an obstacle to access education, he said.
Following in the footsteps of such leaders, Stalin said he experienced boundless joy when he is fulfilling their dreams.
During the early 1900, when the Colonel Olcott School took shape in Chennai, it was social reformer Pandithar Iyothee Thassar who sowed the seeds for providing lunch to school children.
In a first, the noon meal scheme was launched in 1922 in a Chennai Corporation school by Mayor Pitti Theagarayar, stalwart of the Justice Party, which was the precursor to the Dravidian movement, Stalin said.
Months ahead of independence, the British regime had put the noon meal scheme on hold, citing financial constraints.
In 1955, Chief Minister K Kamaraj inaugurated the noon meal scheme, Stalin said, and traced the evolution of the lunch scheme in Tamil Nadu from then onwards.
During the inspection of government schools in Chennai, Stalin said he learnt that many children came to school without having their breakfast.
Considering such a scenario, he said students should not be taught when they were hungry and that is the reason for launching the breakfast scheme.
"The expenditure is Rs 12.75 per child-per day and I am using the word spending in the administrative sense. Truly, this is not expenditure. This is our government's duty and my duty. I assure that all steps will be taken for a phased extension of the scheme and its comprehensive implementation."
Such programmes are neither "freebies" nor concession, this is the duty and responsibility of the government, he said.
The key objectives of the scheme, provided free of cost to children, are prevention of hunger and nutritional deficiency, ensuring enhancement of nutrients besides easing the burden of working women.
The scheme, that has an allocation of Rs 33.56 crore, will be implemented in a total of 1,545 schools benefitting 1,14,095 students across the state. This is the first phase.
The chief minister launched the scheme at the Aadhimoolam Corporation Primary School in Madurai by serving breakfast to children after which he sat down with them on the floor and had food along with them.
Stalin inspected the central kitchen at Nelpettai and flagged off vehicles carrying food to various schools. He released a souvenir tracing the food programmes implemented in government-run schools in Tamil Nadu for about a century, and social activist Kamalathal received the first copy.
The implementation of the scheme will be monitored by supervisory committees at the levels of state, district and school comprising officials of various government departments.
Tamil Nadu ministers including Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi (school education), E V Velu (public works) and K R Periyakaruppan (rural development), top officials and elected representatives took part.
On May 7, 2022, on the occasion of completion of one year in office, Stalin had announced the scheme in Tamil Nadu assembly. In Tamil, the scheme is named as "Mudalamaicharin Kaalai Unavu Thittam (chief minister's breakfast scheme)."