Free breakfast scheme launched in Chennai

CHENNAI: A day after Chief Minister MK Stalin inaugurated free breakfast scheme in Madurai, Chennai Mayor R Priya and ministers kick started the scheme in Chennai on Friday.

At the inauguration event held in a Chennai Corporation school in Madhavaram, minsters M Subramanian, PK Sekar Babu, Chennai Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi and the Mayor distributed food to school children.

A Chennai Corporation official said that 37 Chennai Corporation schools have been selected for the implementation of the scheme in first phase and the civic body, which is the implementing agency has set up 6 huge centralized kitchens where food is being prepared and transported to the schools. More than 5,900 students benefit from the scheme.

Earlier, the civic body has requested the state government to accord permission to prepare food in Amma Canteens and distribute to the students so that to offset the loss incurred by the canteens. However, the government refused to give permission.

மாண்புமிகு தமிழ்நாடு முதலமைச்சர் அவர்களால் முதலமைச்சரின் காலை உணவு திட்டம் மதுரையில் தொடங்கி வைக்கப்பட்டதை தொடர்ந்து, இன்று மாண்புமிகு மருத்துவம் மற்றும் மக்கள் நல்வாழ்வுத்துறை அமைச்சர் திரு. @Subramanian_ma அவர்களும், (1/3) pic.twitter.com/dWxDSuskus

— Greater Chennai Corporation (@chennaicorp) September 16, 2022

Civic body has appointed workers under NULM (National Urban Livelihood Mission) to prepare food. "Workers will start preparing food at 5 am every day and preparation will be completed before 7 am. Food should be given to the students before 8.50 am. Once food is loaded in the vehicles, drivers cannot open on the way as keys will be given only to authorized person in concerned school," an official said.

The civic body conducted a training session for the workers, who are appointed for preparing food, about the hygiene norms to be followed in the kitchens. Moreover, food safety officials collect samples from all the kitchens every day and store for 24 hours for testing.

Sanitary inspectors and sanitary officers of the civic body have been instructed to maintain the kitchens with sanitation.