Chennai, July 22 — The Tamil Nadu government has renamed its flagship school breakfast programme as the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme, paying tribute to former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj while simultaneously expanding the initiative to benefit students studying in Classes VI to VIII in government and government‑aided schools across the State.
A government Order issued by the Department of Social Welfare and Women Empowerment approved the change in the scheme’s name. The order, dated July 15 to coincide with Kamaraj’s birth anniversary, was circulated on Wednesday.
The breakfast programme was originally introduced during the previous DMK government to provide nutritious morning meals to students from Classes I to V in government and government‑aided schools.
Following the formation of the TVK‑led government, Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay directed officials to extend the scheme to middle school students, significantly widening its coverage.
At present, the scheme benefits 19,34,230 students studying in Classes I to V across 37,447 government and government‑aided schools. With the latest expansion, another 15,14,274 students enrolled in Classes VI to VIII will be brought under the programme.
According to the government, the expanded scheme will cover 15,454 schools across Tamil Nadu. This includes 8,787 schools where the breakfast programme is already being implemented for primary classes and will now be extended to middle school students, as well as 6,667 additional schools that have Classes VI and above.
Officials said the expansion is intended to strengthen child nutrition, improve attendance and ensure that students begin the school day with a healthy meal, thereby supporting better learning outcomes and overall well‑being.
The government has estimated that extending the programme to middle school students will require an additional expenditure of Rs 343.55 crore. It has already sanctioned Rs 217.63 crore for the current financial year towards implementing the expanded component of the scheme.
The expanded Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme will be launched on September 17, the birth anniversary of social reformer Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. The government said the rollout marks another step in strengthening Tamil Nadu’s school nutrition programmes while recognising the contributions of two of the State’s most influential leaders to social welfare and educational development.
With the expansion, the scheme is expected to become one of the largest school nutrition initiatives in the country, complementing the State’s longstanding noon meal programme and benefiting millions of children every school day.