The free breakfast initiative in Tamil Nadu for school students has been expanded more. The CM C Joseph Vijay has extended the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme from class 6 to 8. With this expansion 15.30 lakh additional students will benefit from the free breakfast scheme.

Vijay Shares Breakfast With School Students

During the launch of the expansion for the scheme Vijay served food to the students at Gandhi Gramam Government Middle School of Thiruvanmiyur. After that he had breakfast with the students and did a visit to the classrooms to interact with the children. The breakfast served to students had Pongal, sambar and items like sweets.

Free Breakfast Scheme Now Covers Classes 1 to 8

Tamil Nadu Breakfast Scheme programme was only for primarily classes 1 to 5. After the latest expansion Classes from 6 to 8 was included in the scheme. This means that students from Class 1 to 8 from all participating government and government-aided schools are eligible for free morning breakfast.

15.3 Lakh More Students to Benefit

With latest expansion approximately 15.3 lakh students will benefit from the free breakfast scheme. This expansion covers around 15,454 government and government-aided schools of Tamil Nadu. According to the government the main objective of this scheme is to support the nutritional needs of students and to ensure that children do not come to school hungry. Morning meal can also help students to focus on studies and classroom activities.

Additional Budget Allocated for the Scheme

Tamil Nadu government has allocated additional funds for the breakfast scheme expansion. 217.63 crore has been allocated for the latest expansion of the programme after which the overall allocation has reached a total of 724 crore. This additional funding will be used to include Classes 6 to 8 to the scheme and implement the expanded programme.

What is Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme?

Tamil Nadu’s breakfast programme was launched in 2022. The main focus was to provide nutritious breakfast the government school students before the school hours. In July 2026 they changed the name of the programme to Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme and the latest expansion was done under this renamed scheme only.

Key Details: Perunthalaivar Kamarajar

The expanded breakfast scheme of Tamil Nadu now covers students from class 1 to 8. In the latest expansion around 15.30 lakh students and 15,454 schools were included. The main focus of this scheme was to provided nutritious meal to the students before the school hours start. There was an additional allocation of 217.63 crore for the scheme whereas the total allocation has reached 724 crore. The expanded scheme was launched on September 22, 2026 in Chennai. In some districts the implementation timeline may vary because of the electoral restrictions of the region.