CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government is likely to launch the ambitious Chief Minister’s Breakfast scheme, under which students of government primary schools will be served nutritious breakfast for free, from September 15 in Madurai.
According to school education department officials, former chief minister CN Annadurai’s birth anniversary falls on September 15 and hence Stalin is likely to launch the scheme on that day.
In the first phase, the scheme will be launched in Madurai. However, other districts have started preparations to ensure its smooth implementation.
Administrations in several districts have started providing training to self-help group members who will be engaged in cooking under the scheme. Training sessions are being held to teach them to prepare hygienic and nutritious breakfast.
The State government has decided to provide nutritious breakfast to all students studying in Classes 1 to 5 in government primary schools to increase the enrollment ratio, check dropouts and ensure that the children, who mainly come from economically weaker families, get to eat healthy and hygienic food. Officials said Tamil will be one of the first to offer free breakfast to students.
The scheme is to be implemented in 1,545 schools in the municipal, municipal and rural areas of Tamil Nadu. This scheme is expected to benefit over 1.14 lakh students in the first phase and has allocated `33.56 crore for this purpose.
The menu has already been released by the State government. It includes rava upma, semiya upma with sambar, rava khichdi, semiya khichdi and rava pongal among other items from Monday to Friday. Also, the students will be served a dessert (ravi kesari or semiya kesari) on Fridays.
Upma on menu
Menu includes rava upma, semiya upma with sambar, rava khichdi, semiya khichdi and rava pongal among other items from Monday to Friday