CM expands breakfast scheme to Classes VI to VIII

The Tamil Nadu government’s flagship ‘Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme’ was expanded on Tuesday to include students studying in Classes VI to VIII.

Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay inaugurated the State-wide expansion at the Chennai Middle School in Tiruvanmiyur in Chennai. Following that, Minister for Higher Education P. Vishwanathan launched the scheme for Madurai district in Government Higher Secondary School in Thumbaipatti (Kottampatti Panchayat Union).

The initiative, implemented under Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department, aimed to eliminate morning hunger, boost nutritional status, and enhance classroom attendance and learning outcomes across the State.

With this latest expansion, an additional 15.30 lakh students across 15,454 government and government-aided schools will receive nutritious meals every school day.

An officials press statement said that the State government has allocated an additional ₹217.63 crore for the current financial year, bringing the total financial outlay for the scheme to ₹724 crore.