Tamil Nadu’s school education department has ordered disciplinary action against officials in Cuddalore after headmasters were instructed to use their own money to address infrastructure gaps linked to the state’s breakfast scheme, ahead of its extension on September 17.
School education secretary J Innocent Divya said in a circular that the personnel responsible for issuing the instructions had acted in a “negligent manner”. The action was ordered on the directions of school education minister Rajmohan, according to the report.
The controversy followed an earlier circular dated September 9 from the Cuddalore chief education officer. It directed authorities in Cuddalore and Virudhachalam to ensure that headmasters used their “own funds” to fix deficiencies in kitchens, electrical lighting, drinking-water and storage-room facilities. The instructions also required schools to provide plates and tumblers for students participating in the breakfast scheme.
The circular further asked district education officers to take geo-tagged photographs of the scheme’s name boards and submit them to the chief education officer’s office. This placed headmasters and other school officials in charge of both arranging facilities and documenting compliance before the programme’s extension.
The breakfast scheme’s infrastructure requirements include functional kitchens, access to drinking water, storage space, electrical lighting and basic serving equipment. The instructions became a point of contention because they appeared to shift the immediate cost of meeting those requirements from the government system to school heads, who are responsible for administering individual institutions.
The issue drew criticism from former school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss. Poyyamozhi said on X that the government should stop imposing a financial burden on teachers and abandon what he described as a mindset of viewing them with suspicion. Ramadoss urged the government to bear the expenses for name boards, plates, tumblers and other facilities required for the morning breakfast scheme.
The department’s decision to order disciplinary action indicates that the instruction to use personal funds was not accepted as an authorised implementation practice. The supplied report does not specify the officials against whom action will be taken, the precise nature of the disciplinary proceedings or whether separate funding will now be released to address deficiencies in the affected schools.
The breakfast scheme is scheduled for extension on September 17. The next administrative steps will involve the department’s action against the officials responsible for the instructions and arrangements for the required kitchen, water, storage, lighting and serving facilities in the schools covered by the extension.
