Stalin Expands Free Breakfast To Government-Aided Schools In Tamil Nadu

Chief Minister MK Stalin has expanded the free breakfast scheme for primary school children in government-aided schools today. It was launched at a school in the Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu. 

The scheme is expected to benefit 2.23 lakh children, from classes 1-5, in 3995 government-aided schools across the state. 

While launching the expanded scheme, Stalin said, "A total of more than 20 lakh children avail free breakfast." Calling it "a pioneering programme", he said it would, "improve attendance in schools and cut school dropouts."

Being the first state to introduce the mid-day meal scheme, Tamil Nadu has been a pioneer in this with a history of over 100 years. Children in a few corporation schools in the then Madras were served free meals in 1920. Later in 1956, the then Congress Chief Minister K Kamaraj launched a free lunch scheme across the state to bring poor children to schools and also to cut down on child labour. 

Successive chief ministers of Tamil Nadu worked further to improve the noon scheme. M G Ramachandran, turned it into a Nutritional Noon Meal Scheme in 1982, while M Karunanidhi added eggs to the menu and J Jayalalithaa added a variety of rice to it later. 

Taking a dig at the centre M K Stalin said "Whether it is hunger or NEET, nothing should be an obstacle for students." Politically, this can also be seen as yet another populist scheme in the run-up to the 2026 assembly elections in Tamil Nadu which would also see popular Star Vijay in the electoral arena. 

The Stalin-led state government has already launched a monthly assistance of one thousand rupees for government school students pursuing college education besides the breakfast scheme.