Midday meal: Can TN set an example with chicken biryani when even eggs go missing?

The Tamil Nadu government is considering serving chicken biryani once a week to students as part of its midday meal scheme. But the big question is, how will the state allocate funds?

Minister for School Education Rajmohan said he had sent a formal request to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, who is currently reviewing the proposal.

What minister said

Rajmohan said, "The Justice Party brought food, the Kamaraj rule made it a midday meal, Kalaignar Ayya came and brought eggs into this, the Revolutionary Leader changed it to a nutritious meal, Amma came and brought eggs every week... many changes occurred. Similarly, I had a desire... I have put forward a request: why not serve chicken biryani once a week?"

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If Chief Minister Vijay approves the proposal, Tamil Nadu will become the first south Indian state to introduce chicken biryani for students in the midday meal scheme.

Previously, among other Indian states and Union Territories, Lakshadweep and West Bengal have provided non-veg dishes for government school students.

The minister also highlighted plans to revamp the existing school breakfast menu.

Cost per student

Noting the current allocation of approximately Rs 15 per student, he said the government intends to replace repetitive items such as wheat and rava 'upma' with more nutritious and appetising alternatives. However, he did not elaborate on the costs involved in revising the existing menu.

Also read: ISKCON midday meals in Kolkata schools from Aug 1: CM Suvendu

Last year, the Kerala government said it would consider introducing chicken biryani in its scheme for students after a three-year-old boy at an Anganwadi asked for it instead of upma and his mother shared the video on social media.

The then Health Minister Veena George said the menu would be revised. However, the government did not add chicken biryani to the menu.

Kerala's new move

Now, the new UDF government in Kerala has withdrawn the mandatory revised menu introduced by the previous administration. The VD Satheesan government has asked the schools to decide their lunch menus depending on the funds allocated.

In Kerala, for a pre-primary to primary school student, the funds are Rs 6.78 per student, and it is Rs 10 for Class 8 to 10. Adding non-veg dishes to the menu will impact the state’s finances.

The Kerala Budget has allocated Rs 410.66 crore for the mid-day meal and supplementary nutrition programme for the 2026-27 fiscal year.

“Fund crunch in the sense that we get the money from the state government very late. So, the principals and headmasters, along with the PTA, step in to pool money from their pockets. This was the situation throughout the 2025-26 academic year. The same was the situation before,” a school principal was quoted as saying in The New Indian Express.

“They follow the menu, but to serve biryani with the funds — Rs 6.78 per student from pre-primary to primary and Rs 10 per student for Classes 6 to 8 — is not viable. Most of the schools do that with additional funds from donors or the local self-government department,” he added.

Egg controversy in Bengal

As part of several states’ nutritional programmes, students have been provided with boiled eggs. However, the new BJP government in West Bengal recently decided to drop eggs from the menu after tying up with ISKCON.

After the controversy over removing eggs from the menu, the Bengal government on Wednesday (July 29) said it will provide eggs in the mid-day meal scheme.

According to Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, the government has increased the funds for each student in mid-day meal scheme to Rs 10. It was Rs 6.78 under the previous government.

While Tamil Nadu is considering introducing chicken biryani in its mid-day meal scheme, when even eggs have been dropped from the menu in some states, the move has sparked a debate online over the state’s finances. It remains to be seen whether Chief Minister Vijay approves it or not.