Chicken Biryani in Mid-Day Meals? Tamil Nadu Weighs Weekly Treat for Government School Students

The Tamil Nadu government is examining a proposal to serve chicken biryani once a week to students in government schools under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, an idea pitched to Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay by Minister for School Education, A Rajmohan. The proposal, still under consideration, could mark one of the most significant changes to the state's school meal menu in recent years.

Minister's Pitch To The Chief Minister

Speaking about the idea, Rajmohan framed it as part of a long tradition of political leaders strengthening the state's school nutrition programme in their own way.

"Kamarajar introduced the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Kalaignar Karunanidhi added eggs, MGR transformed it into the Nutritious Meal Programme, and Jayalalithaa expanded egg distribution throughout the week. Likewise, I have a wish to introduce chicken biryani once a week in government schools," he said.

Sources said the proposal is currently before CM Vijay, though a final decision has not yet been taken. UP Shocker: 2 Half Litre Milk Packets Mixed in Bucket of Water, Served to Children Under Mid Day Meal in Mahoba; Video Surfaces.

A Legacy Of School Nutrition Reform

Tamil Nadu has long been considered a pioneer in school nutrition policy. The Mid-Day Meal Scheme was first introduced by former Chief Minister K Kamaraj in the 1950s, laying the groundwork for what became one of India's most celebrated welfare programmes. Successive governments have since expanded both its nutritional content and menu variety.

In September 2022, the then DMK government launched the Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme, later renamed the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme, to provide morning meals to primary school students alongside the existing mid-day meal programme, ensuring children received two nutritious meals during the school day. Uttar Pradesh Government Bans Corporal Punishment in Schools, Strict Action to Be Taken Against Teachers Who Violate Directive.

Breakfast Menu Also Up For Revamp

Rajmohan also flagged plans to overhaul the current school breakfast menu. With an existing allocation of around INR 15 per student, he said the government intends to move away from repetitive items such as wheat and rava upma in favour of more nutritious and appealing alternatives.

Scale Of The Challenge

Tamil Nadu runs one of the largest school meal networks in the country. According to the PM POSHAN management system, the state has more than 45,000 schools under the programme, covering an enrolment of over 4.15 million students.

Implementing even a once-a-week biryani menu at this scale would require significant planning around procurement, storage, food safety and simultaneous distribution across thousands of schools. Whether the proposal is eventually approved will depend on financial, nutritional and logistical considerations.

Teachers Raise Other Long-Pending Demands

The biryani proposal emerged from consultations in Chennai where representatives of over 150 teachers' and non-teaching staff associations raised a range of other issues with the minister.

Among the demands were the regularisation of about 11,773 part-time teachers who have worked under Samagra Shiksha for roughly 16 academic years in subjects such as physical education, drawing, computer science and sewing. Associations also sought a reduction in qualifying marks for the Teacher Eligibility Test, a pay revision for secondary grade teachers, and restoration of the old pension scheme.

Teachers' bodies additionally pointed to staff vacancies in the elementary sections of model schools, noting that while posts for higher classes had been filled, younger students continued to face shortages.

Government Response

Responding to the volume of representations, Rajmohan said the government would digitise all petitions through dedicated software to track each demand electronically, allowing associations to follow up on the status of action taken on individual requests.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 30, 2026 05:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).