Chief Minister Breakfast Scheme

What is the Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme?

The Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme is a school nutrition programme of the Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, run as part of the state's long-standing Nutritious Meal Programme. Under it, children in government schools are served a free cooked breakfast on every school working day, in addition to the noon meal that Tamil Nadu has provided since the 1980s.

According to the department's own scheme page, the programme was announced on 7 May 2022 by the Chief Minister and launched at Madurai on 15 September 2022. The first phase covered 1,14,095 students in 1,545 government schools at a cost of Rs 33.56 crore, and the schools were chosen on four criteria: prevalence of anaemia, economic backwardness, tribal populations and geographic accessibility.

The scheme has expanded steadily since. It was extended in March 2023 to all 30,122 government primary schools in the state at a budgeted Rs 500 crore for the year, covering classes 1 to 5. In the 2026-27 state budget the programme was extended to classes 6 to 8, reaching 15.14 lakh students across 15,414 schools at a cost of Rs 710 crore, with rollout announced for 17 September 2026. The scheme was renamed the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme in July 2026, though the Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department portal continues to carry it under its original heading.

Why breakfast, and not just the noon meal?

Tamil Nadu already served a cooked noon meal in government schools. The gap the breakfast scheme addresses is the morning. A child who leaves home at seven without eating sits through three or four periods before the noon meal arrives. Teachers across the state reported the predictable consequences: children unable to concentrate in the first half of the day, and attendance falling away in households where the morning meal was uncertain.

The department's stated nutritional design reflects that. Each portion is prepared from 50 grams of raw material per child per day and delivers:

Iron content matters here, because anaemia prevalence was one of the four criteria used to select the first 1,545 schools.

What is served?

The menu rotates rather than repeating. The department describes it as upma type, kitchadi type and pongal type preparations, with sweet options on some days, and with locally available millets incorporated at least twice a week. Millets are a deliberate inclusion, they raise the iron and fibre content and they are grown across the state's dryland districts.

The food is cooked fresh at the school or at an attached kitchen by the Nutritious Meal Programme staff who already cook the noon meal, which is why the scheme could scale to 30,122 schools without building a new delivery system.

Who is eligible, and who is not covered?

A child receives breakfast if:

• The child is enrolled in a government school in Tamil Nadu that is covered by the scheme.
• The child is in one of the covered classes, classes 1 to 5 from the statewide extension in March 2023, and classes 6 to 8 under the 2026-27 budget extension.
• The child attends on a working day. Breakfast is served on school working days only.

There is no income test, no caste condition and no application. Every child in a covered class in a covered school is served. That universality is a design decision: a means-tested breakfast would mark out poorer children in front of their classmates, and attendance would suffer for exactly the children the scheme exists for.

A child is not covered if:

• The child is enrolled in a private unaided school. Those schools are not eligible under the scheme.
• The child is in a class outside the covered range for the current year.
• The child is absent, the meal is served in school and cannot be collected later or taken home.

Coverage has been extended to some categories of aided and temple-run institutions over time, so parents in a school that is not currently served should ask the headmaster whether their school is in a covered category rather than assume.

How does a child get the breakfast?

1. Enrol the child in a government school. Enrolment is the only step. There is no separate form, no card and no registration for the breakfast itself.
2. Send the child to school on time. Breakfast is served before classes begin, so a child arriving late may miss it.
3. Confirm with the headmaster that your school is covered if breakfast is not being served. Coverage has been extended in phases, and a school added in a later phase may begin part way through a year.
4. Raise any problem with the headmaster first — quality, quantity or a day the meal was not served. The headmaster is the officer responsible for the Nutritious Meal Programme in the school.

What documents are required?

No parent should be asked for an income certificate, a community certificate or any fee in connection with the school breakfast. If a demand of that kind is made, take it to the Block Educational Officer.

How the scheme is delivered and monitored

The breakfast is prepared and served through the existing Nutritious Meal Programme machinery. The noon meal organisers and cooks already attached to each school; under the Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department. Day to day responsibility sits with the school headmaster, supervised by the Block level noon meal officials and the district administration.

Practical points that recur across schools:

• Attendance is taken before the meal, and the number cooked follows the roll, so a sudden increase in attendance can leave a shortfall on the first day.
• Millet days are fixed in the weekly menu and are worth knowing, since some children need a few weeks to adjust to them.
• Complaints about food quality are actionable, the headmaster, then the Block Educational Officer, then the district collector's grievance day.

Common questions parents raise at school

• Does the breakfast replace the noon meal? No. A child in a covered school receives both on a working day.
• Is the food safe for a child with a specific medical condition? Tell the headmaster in writing. Schools can and do make local arrangements.
• What about holidays and exam days? Breakfast is served on school working days, so it stops during vacations.
• Can the food be taken home? No. It is served and eaten in school.

Where to raise a grievance

• The school headmaster, who is responsible for the Nutritious Meal Programme in the school.
• The Block Educational Officer for the block.
• The District Social Welfare Officer and the Chief Educational Officer at the district level.
• The Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department, through tnsocialwelfare.tn.gov.in.

The breakfast is free and unconditional for children in covered schools. No fee, contribution or document may be demanded from a parent for it.