Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Miniter C Joseph Vijay on Monday announced that the CM's Breakfast Scheme for school going students will be expanded upto Class 8.

The initiative will be launched on September 17, he said.

The CM's Breakfast Scheme, launched during the previous DMK regime by the then chief minister MK Stalin, currently covers students upto Class 5 from Class 1 in the state-run and government-aided schools.

Chairing a review meeting of the Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department, Vijay advised officials to ensure expeditious implementation of welfare schemes.

Further, the chief minister directed officials to take steps to expand the Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme upto Class 8 and launch this initiative on September 17, the birth anniversary of reformist leader 'Periyar' EV Ramasamy.

Top government officials, led by Chief Secretary M Saikumar, took part, an official release said.

On August 26, 2025, Stalin inaugurated the expansion of the CM's Breakfast Scheme to urban areas in the state.

It marked the 5th phase of the scheme's implementation, taking the benefit to 3.06 lakh more children belonging to 2,429 schools.

With that expansion last year, a total of 20.59 lakh children in 37,416 government and state-aided schools were brought under the welfare scheme's coverage.

Dishes, including Pongal, along with dhal and sambar are cooked at a centralised kitchen in a hygienic manner and transported to schools by vans.

This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.