Chennai: Students in Classes VI-VIII at Gandhi Gramam Middle School in Tiruvanmiyur were all smiles when chief minister C Joseph Vijay served them pongal, sambar and sweets on Tuesday. He also had breakfast with them after kicking off the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme.A total of 217 students were served breakfast at the school under the scheme, which has now been extended to Classes V-VIII students, too. The extension is expected to benefit 15.3 lakh students from more than 15,000 schools across the state. Students will be served rava, wheat and semiya kichdis three times a week and pongal twice.After breakfast, Vijay visited the classes and interacted with the students. “The chief minister asked me my name and my section. He also waited patiently to talk to me till I finished my prayer before eating,” S Tharshini, Class VII student, said.Cliff Anderson, another Class VII student, said, “The CM asked if I liked the food and if there was anything I needed.”A total of ₹217 crore was allocated for the extension of the scheme, implemented by the social welfare department, this financial year. Initially launched as the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme in 2022 by the previous DMK govt for Classes I-V, the scheme has now been renamed by the TVK govt and extended up to Class VIII.Ministers N Anand, Aadhav Arjuna and Rajmohan accompanied the chief minister to the event.
