Midday Meal
Chicken Biryani in school midday meals? Tamil Nadu govt weighs big menu makeover
Chennai/IBNS: In a major revamp of the state's midday meal programme, the Tamil Nadu government is considering introducing chicken biryani once a week for schoolchildren if Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay approves a proposal submitted by the School Education Department, media reports said.
The proposal is currently under the Chief Minister's consideration.
Proposal sent to Chief Minister
According to reports, School Education Minister Rajmohan proposed the idea during a departmental review meeting and urged the Chief Minister to enhance the menu served under the state's flagship nutrition programme.
"We have submitted several demands to the Chief Minister during a review meeting of our department. My wish is to provide chicken biryani once a week, and I have conveyed this to Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay. He promised to look into my demand," Rajmohan was quoted as saying by Deccan Herald.
"We need to go beyond upma," the minister added.
If approved, the proposal would mark one of the biggest changes to Tamil Nadu's school meal menu in recent years.
Tamil Nadu's pioneering midday meal programme
Tamil Nadu has one of the oldest and most influential school meal programmes in India. Its origins date back to 1925, when the then Madras Corporation introduced a meal scheme for underprivileged children in select schools in Chennai (then Madras).
The programme was significantly expanded by former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj during the 1950s and 1960s as part of his efforts to boost school enrolment and reduce dropout rates among children from economically weaker sections.
MGR's Nutritious Meal Programme
The scheme received a major push in 1982, when former Chief Minister M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) launched the Nutritious Meal Programme, transforming it into one of Tamil Nadu's flagship welfare initiatives.
The programme sought not only to tackle classroom hunger but also to improve child nutrition and encourage regular school attendance. Over the years, successive governments expanded the menu by introducing items such as eggs, bananas and fortified foods to improve nutritional intake.
Model for the national scheme
Tamil Nadu's successful model later inspired the national Mid-Day Meal Scheme, which was rolled out across India in the 1990s and expanded significantly after the Supreme Court directed all states in 2001 to provide cooked meals to children in government and government-aided schools.
The programme is now implemented nationwide as the PM POSHAN Scheme, continuing to reflect Tamil Nadu's pioneering approach to combining education with child nutrition.
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