Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme in Tamil Nadu: 81 primary schools in Tiruchy to benefit

V Pitchai, Project Director of the District Rural Development Agency, Tiruchy, said food will be prepared in the respective schools
Picture for representational purpose only | (Pic: Express)
Picture for representational purpose only | (Pic: Express)

As many as 40 primary schools from urban areas and 41 from rural areas in the Tiruchirappalli district have been selected for the implementation of the recently-launched breakfast scheme by the State government of Tamil Nadu.

A total of 1,545 government primary schools from across the State have been selected and more than 1.13 lakh students will benefit from the Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme in the initial stage during 2022-23, sources said. The scheme, coming under the Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department, is being implemented at a cost of Rs 33.56 crore stated a report in The New Indian Express.

V Pitchai, Project Director of the District Rural Development Agency, Tiruchy, said food will be prepared in the respective schools.

A total of 2,793 students from rural areas — 1,438 boys and 1,355 girls — will benefit from the scheme, Pitchai said. Vessels and other necessary items needed for preparing food will be provided by the Social Welfare Department, he added.

K Ramesh Kumar, Project Director of Tamil Nadu State Livelihood Rural Mission, said, "In every panchayat, there will be a core committee comprising headmasters of schools, a PTA president, a PLF representative and a PTA member. They will be involved in the selection process of the cooking staff. The committee prefers parents from the schools as staff as they would ensure proper hygiene."

So far, the department has selected 123 staff members, sources said. A total of three workers will be employed in each school. Also, training will be conducted in Chennai for the staff by a professional cook under the State Institute for Rural Development. The cooking process will begin at 6.30 am so that breakfast is served early and finished by 9 am.

Urban schools selected under the scheme will come under the Tiruchy corporation, sources said. "A total of 40 schools have been selected within city limits. The Syed Murthuza Government Higher Secondary School has been selected for setting up the kitchen. It will be a centralised one for the urban schools," Corporation Commissioner R Vaithinathan told The New Indian Express.

A tender will be floated to provide necessary assistance required for cooking, Vaithinathan said, adding the food will be distributed to schools using four vehicles. "The implementation of the scheme is expected to start from September in all selected schools," he added.

S Thangaselvi, Headmistress at Panchayat Union Primary School in Sengatupatti, Thuraiyur block, said, "The scheme will be of great help to parents who are daily-wage workers. This will also help their children perform well."

TN Sasikala, Headmistress of Adi Dravidar Welfare School Elementary School at Kannanur, said, "More students will be interested now to enroll in schools, just the way it was during the implementation of the mid-day meal scheme."

Collector M Pradeep Kumar said, "A meeting was held last week regarding the scheme and we have finalised most of the work. The rest will be completed in four to five days."

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