Institutions under Palani temple provide free breakfast for students

The initiative is seen as an extension of the Free Breakfast Scheme for government school students launched by TN government

Students at four colleges and two schools run by the Arulmigu Dhandayudapani Temple in Palani in Dindigul district will now be provided free breakfast on all working days. The initiative is seen as an extension of the Free Breakfast Scheme for government school students from class one to five launched by the Tamil Nadu Government in September.

Chief Minister M K Stalin launched the scheme from Chennai under which 4,000 students in two schools and four colleges in Palani and Ottanchathiram in Dindigul district, which are managed by the famous Lord Murugan Temple, will be fed.

Read | TN to expand breakfast scheme across the state within a year

Since students studying in the schools and colleges mentioned above come from far-away areas and considering their economic condition, the temple administration which comes under the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department decided to launch the free breakfast scheme.

Under the scheme, students will be served a combination of Ven Pongal and Idli, Rava Upma and Idli, and Kichadi and Idli, along with chutney and sambar on a rotational basis. “The expenses will be incurred from the temple funds,” the government said.

HR&CE Minister P K Sekarbabu told DH that the department decided to launch the initiative since Palani Temple generates “good revenue” and felt that it could be used to feed the students. “We will take a call on extending this scheme to other schools and colleges run by temple managements based on their revenue and other factors,” Sekarbabu added.

The implementation of the scheme comes two months after the government launched a free breakfast scheme aimed at tackling nutrition deficiency among children and ensuring their attendance in schools.

In the first phase, the scheme will benefit as many as 1.14 lakh children in 1,545 government-run schools in cities, towns, villages and far-flung areas. Of the 1,545 schools, 417 are in cities, 163 are in towns/district headquarters, 728 are in rural areas and 237 are in far-flung/hilly areas.

Tamil Nadu has had a long history of providing food to students at schools -- the mid-day meals scheme, which is now being implemented across the country, was first conceived by the Justice Party dispensation which provided free meals to school children in government schools in Chennai. However, the then-British regime stopped it a few years later citing a lack of resources.

The scheme was then relaunched by Congress Chief Minister K Kamaraj in 1957 and expanded to the entire state. Then came M G Ramachandran who expanded it further by providing nutritious meals to children between 2 to 9 years old. M Karunanidhi added eggs on all days to the menu and bananas for children who don’t eat eggs, while Jayalalithaa introduced a variety of rice.