Tamil Nadu will extend the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme to students in Classes VI to VIII from September 17, with schools directed to prepare kitchens, arrange utensils and install scheme nameboards before the rollout. The expansion will cover 15.14 lakh students across 15,454 government, aided and corporation schools, including 589 schools in Chennai.
The state has instructed headmasters to ensure that kitchens are equipped and operational before the programme begins. District and chief education officers have been asked to coordinate with municipalities, corporations and block development offices to deliver kitchen equipment, lighting and cooking gas connections by September 16.
The required nameboards are to be steel-framed panels measuring four feet by two feet. School management committees have been authorised to use available funds for installing them. Chennai chief education officer M Kabir said headmasters would not be required to spend money from their own pockets for the boards or other scheme-related requirements.
“For utensils, tumblers and maintenance of the kitchen, the local body has been extending assistance,” Kabir said. He added that chief education officers would visit schools before the launch, check whether specifications had been followed and submit reports to the Directorate of School Education with photographic evidence.
Some school heads said they had also been told to use the annual maintenance grant for nameboards where necessary. The grant ranges from ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh depending on the strength of the school. One headmaster cited in the report said a flex board would cost about ₹600 and clarified that schools had not been asked to spend on lighting or install posters of politicians. The government has specifically instructed schools not to do so.
The scheme was originally launched in 2022 for students in Classes I to V. In July, the Tamil Nadu government renamed it the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme and announced its expansion to Classes VI to VIII. The latest instructions focus on the physical and administrative preparation required at school level before the larger beneficiary group is brought under the programme.
The September 16 deadline places responsibility on district education officials and local bodies to complete the supply of kitchen equipment, lighting and cooking gas connections ahead of service delivery. Chief education officers are expected to verify the readiness of schools and forward photo-supported compliance reports to the state education directorate before the September 17 launch.
