Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday renamed the Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme, launched by the previous DMK regime, as the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme in honour of former Chief Minister K Kamaraj, who is credited with transforming the state's school education system.

The government also announced the expansion of the scheme to cover students of Classes 6 to 8 in government and aided schools across the state.

Kamaraj, popularly known as the "Kingmaker" and celebrated as a leader who promoted education in Tamil Nadu, introduced the mid-day meal programme in 1956 to address poverty and encourage school enrolment. The initiative was later expanded by former Chief Minister M G Ramachandran as the Puratchi Thalaivar MGR Nutritious Meal Programme in 1982.

Subsequent governments led by J Jayalalithaa and M Karunanidhi enhanced various nutritional aspects of the programme. The DMK government headed by M K Stalin launched the Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme in 2022, coinciding with Kamaraj's birth anniversary on July 15, covering students of Classes 1 to 5.

The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam government led by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay issued an order on July 15 renaming the scheme as the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme, stating that the move was aimed at recognising Kamaraj's contribution to children's education and welfare.

The expanded scheme will be implemented from September 17, marking the birth anniversary of social reformer Periyar E V Ramasamy. It will benefit an additional 15.14 lakh middle school students, taking the total number of beneficiaries to around 35 lakh.

The government has approved an additional expenditure of Rs 343.55 crore, including Rs 217.63 crore for the current financial year, for the extended phase.

The scheme is currently implemented in 37,447 schools, where students are provided nutritious breakfast such as upma, kichadi and pongal on weekdays, with rava kesari served as a sweet dish on Fridays.

Officials said locally sourced millet-based food under the programme helps address nutritional deficiencies by providing around 293 calories, 9.85 grams of protein, besides iron and calcium.

Criticising the renaming exercise, senior DMK leader Duraimurugan said there was nothing wrong in naming the scheme after Kamaraj but questioned the government's practice of renaming existing welfare initiatives instead of introducing new programmes.

He said the DMK government had retained schemes such as Amma Unavagam despite their association with political opponents, and stressed that political leaders should display "magnanimity" towards welfare initiatives introduced by previous administrations.

He also criticised the renaming of welfare schemes as a sign of political intolerance, citing the need for governments to respect continuity in public welfare programmes.