CHENNAI: The state government has renamed the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme as the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme and sanctioned Rs 217.63 crore for the current financial year to extend the programme to students in Classes 6 to 8 in government and government-aided schools.
A government order issued by the Social Welfare and Women Empowerment department on July 15 stated that the expanded scheme will be rolled out from September 17, the birth anniversary of Periyar EV Ramasamy. The scheme will cover 12.87 lakh students based on attendance in 15,454 government and government-aided schools across the state.
The allocation includes Rs 204.06 crore towards recurring expenditure and Rs 13.57 crore for non-recurring expenses for the current year. The government has estimated the scheme’s annual expenditure at Rs 343.55 crore, calculated at approximately Rs 12.71 per student per day for 210 school working days.
The breakfast scheme was launched by the DMK government in September 2022 for students of Classes 1 to 5 in 1,545 government primary schools, benefiting about 1.14 lakh children in its first phase. It was subsequently expanded in phases to cover all government and government-aided primary schools in the state, reaching 19.34 lakh students studying in Classes 1 to 5. The latest expansion will take the scheme to middle school students.
TNCC president Manickam Tagore has welcomed the decision to name the scheme after former chief minister K Kamaraj.
