Nine students of a panchayat union school in Tamil Nadu's Usilampatti village have been refusing to eat breakfast at the school as it is prepared by a Scheduled Caste (SC) woman. Only 11 students study in the school, located five km from Ettayapuram. Two students belong to the SC community, while the remaining belong to Kambalathu Naicker, a backward-class community.

“The nine students have been refusing the meal cooked under the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme since August 25. The food is cooked by Muniya Selvi, an SC woman from the village. Her son is also studying in the same school,” sources said, as per a report by The New Indian Express.

Upon hearing about the incident, Kovilpatti Rural Development Officer (RDO) Jane Christy, along with officials of the rural development and police departments held talks with the parents of the students on Monday, September 11. But as they still refused to allow their children to eat the food, Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Minister Geetha Jeevan and Vilathikulam MLA GV Markandeyan reached the school and held separate inquiries with students, teachers, and the cook.

Later in the day, Minister Jeevan said, “The issue snowballed owing to some personal differences. We will resolve it soon.” Meanwhile, the cook stated that the students were refusing to eat the food only because their parents asked them to do so, as per TNIE.