Tamil Nadu expands free breakfast scheme to Classes 6 to 8

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Tuesday launched the expanded Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Free Breakfast Scheme at a Government Middle School in Gandhi Gramam, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai, extending the state's free morning meal programme from Classes 1-5 to Classes 6-8. Vijay served breakfast to students and later joined them for the meal, after which he visited classrooms and interacted with pupils, according to the accounts of the launch. The expansion will benefit around 15.30 lakh additional students in Classes 6-8 across 15,454 government and government-aided schools in Tamil Nadu, the state government said. The government has allocated an additional Rs 217.63 crore for the expansion in the current financial year, taking the total allocation for the breakfast programme to Rs 724 crore. The programme was previously known as the Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme and was renamed the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Free Breakfast Scheme in July in honour of former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Kamaraj, who played a significant role in expanding access to school education and strengthening the state's school meal initiatives.