Tamil Nadu’s school education department has ordered departmental disciplinary action against officials in Cuddalore after a circular instructed school headmasters to use their own money to repair facilities and purchase supplies for the state’s breakfast scheme.
The action follows directions issued ahead of the extension of the breakfast scheme on September 17. School education secretary J Innocent Divya said the personnel responsible for the instructions had acted in a “negligent manner”. The decision was taken on the directions of school education minister Rajmohan, according to the department’s circular.
The controversy centres on a circular dated September 9 from the Cuddalore chief education officer. It asked authorities in Cuddalore and Virudhachalam to ensure that headmasters used their “own funds” to address deficiencies in school kitchens, electrical lighting, drinking water and storage rooms. The instructions also covered the provision of plates and tumblers for students.
The circular further directed district education officers to collect geo-tagged photographs of the scheme’s name boards and submit them to the chief education officer’s office. The combination of infrastructure-related instructions and reporting requirements placed the operational responsibility on school authorities shortly before the scheme’s planned extension.
The department’s response has turned the matter from a local administrative instruction into a question of how public welfare programmes are implemented at school level. The reported deficiencies involved basic facilities required for preparing, storing and serving food, including water access, electrical lighting, kitchen space and storage. The supplied report does not specify the number of schools affected, the estimated cost of the repairs or whether any headmaster had already spent personal money.
The circular drew criticism from former school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss. Poyyamozhi said the government should stop imposing a financial burden on teachers and abandon what he described as a mindset of treating 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 has ordered disciplinary action against the officials involved, but the report does not identify the specific personnel facing action or state the form and timeline of the proceedings. It also does not indicate how the Cuddalore and Virudhachalam schools will address the infrastructure deficiencies before the breakfast scheme’s extension on September 17.
