Video: At breakfast scheme launch, Vijay serves students, eats pongal with them

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Joseph Vijay on Tuesday launched the expansion of the state government's breakfast scheme for school students, extending its coverage to students studying in Classes 6 to 8.

Vijay launched the expanded scheme at a Government Middle School in Chennai's Gandhi Gramam and served breakfast to students at the school and later joined them for the meal.

Following the launch, the Chief Minister visited classrooms and interacted with students.

According to the Tamil Nadu government, the expansion of the rechristened Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Free Breakfast Scheme will benefit around 15.30 lakh additional students studying in Classes 6 to 8.

The expanded programme will cover students across 15,454 government and state-aided schools in Tamil Nadu.

The state government has allocated an additional Rs 217.63 crore for the expansion in the current financial year, taking the total allocation for the breakfast programme to Rs 724 crore.

The government has said the programme is aimed at improving children's nutritional status and ensuring that students attend school without hunger and are able to concentrate on their studies.