A UNICEF report released this week credits Tamil Nadu's Chief Minister's Breakfast Scheme — which provides free nutritious breakfast to government school students — with reducing child malnutrition by 28% over two years.
The scheme, which started in September 2022, now serves 17.6 lakh children daily across 31,598 government primary schools, with a menu including idli, pongal, upma, and fruit on rotation.
School attendance rates at government schools increased by 15.4% in schools where the scheme was implemented, according to the state education department data cited in the UNICEF report.