CHENNAI: Revenue secretary and government spokesperson in charge of the Social Welfare Department P Amudha, and Social Welfare Secretary Jayashree Muralidharan on Monday said 88% of primary school children in government and government-aided schools, where Chief Minister MK Stalin's breakfast scheme is being implemented, are benefiting from it.
They were addressing reporters ahead of the scheme’s expansion to cover all government-aided schools. The expansion will be launched by the chief minister on Tuesday in Chennai.
When asked if the scheme would be extended to middle schools, Amudha said it is a policy decision of the government.
“With this extension, the scheme will reach more than 20 lakh students covering all government and aided schools. The scheme now covers the foundational classes and further expansion is a policy decision,” she said.
Jayashree added that more than 90% of students in rural areas and around 85% in urban areas are benefiting from the scheme.
The number of kitchens across the state has been increased to facilitate the expansion. She also added that there is no drop in students consuming mid-day meals due to the breakfast scheme.
“We are modifying the scheme based on student feedback. For instance, many students said they disliked rice upma, so it was replaced with pongal, which students preferred,” she said. The officials added that the government has allocated Rs 600 crore for the implementation of the scheme.