Amid ‘freebie culture’ debate, Tamil Nadu launches free breakfast scheme for schoolchildren

Like some of the other welfare schemes introduced by successive governments of Tamil Nadu, this one, too, aims to address certain key issues.

According to the state government, the main objectives of the scheme are to ensure that students come to school without hunger, bring down malnutrition among them, enhance the nutritional status of children, eliminate anaemia, not just maintain but also increase attendance in schools, and reduce the burden on working mothers.

The first phase of the free breakfast programme is expected to benefit 1.14 lakh students in 1,545 government primary schools in corporations, municipalities, panchayats, and tribal areas of the state.

A total of ₹33.56 crore has been sanctioned for the scheme.

The Social Welfare Department and heads of local bodies have been tasked with the implementation of the scheme, which the state government claimed is the first of its kind in the country.

As far as the breakfast menu is concerned, among other items, dishes made out of millet cultivated in the state would be included at least twice a week.

Raw materials for the dishes would be certified by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), and reuse of oil would not be allowed.

School authorities have been directed to check the quality of food before it is served to the children, and there would also be surprise checks by food safety officials.

Monitoring committees comprising officials from different nodal departments would also be set up.

Describing the rollout of the scheme as a “proud moment”, Stalin said it was his dream project, one steeped in the ideals of the Dravidian movement.

“I’m sure the rest of the country will follow this scheme,” he said at an event in Chennai.

Debate over ‘freebies’

The Tamil Nadu government’s order for the implementation of the free breakfast scheme comes at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and some of his colleagues in the Union government have asked states to shun the culture of freebies.

At a public gathering in Uttar Pradesh on 16 July, Modi said that the “revdi” culture — a metaphor for freebies based on a popular North Indian sesame sweet distributed during festivals — was dangerous for the country.

He also cautioned people — especially the youth — to stay vigilant against it.

“Those indulging in the revdi culture will never build new expressways, new airports or defence corridors for you. They think by distributing revdi for free, they can buy people’s vote. We should defeat such ideas together. This culture must be removed from the country’s politics,” said Modi.

The statement was slammed by many, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who said free and quality services provided to the public were not “freebies”.

Taking a swipe at the prime minister, Kejriwal asked if giving undue benefits to certain corporates would also be considered freebies.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on 26 July orally asked the Central government if there was a way to stop political parties from distributing “irrational” freebies to voters.

But “who decides what is irrational” was the question posed by Tamil Nadu Finance Minister P Thiaga Rajan to the observations of the Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice NV Ramana.

Baffling…

Who decides what is a “Freebie”, as opposed to an essential good/service provided by a responsible Govt (e.g. 2nd pic)?

Who decides what is irrational?

Does the Constitution of India envision the Judiciary as the chaperone of the voter – voteseeker relationship? pic.twitter.com/GqR2DYmWIF

— Dr P Thiaga Rajan (PTR) (@ptrmadurai) July 27, 2022

‘Welfare schemes are not freebies’

Several experts in Tamil Nadu say that it would be incorrect to term welfare schemes which could lead to the overall development as “freebies”.

“Giving free mixer-grinders, washing machines, etc, is different from welfare schemes. Take, for example, the free breakfast programme. It targets students coming from poor and underprivileged families to tackle the issue of malnutrition, and to ensure that they attend school. It is not a negative freebie,” argued Ramu Manivannan, retired professor of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Madras.

Many economists and political observers credit welfare schemes introduced and sustained by successive governments of Tamil Nadu for why the state performs well in terms of social development indices and overall development.

Economist and Tamil Nadu State Planning Commission Vice-Chairman J Jeyaranjan told South First that welfare policies were main the reason for the poverty rate in the state going from 35 percent to 4 percent over the past 20 or more years.

“Tamil Nadu is depicted as a state that is always giving out free stuff. It makes people lazy and unproductive, they claim. But is Tamil Nadu’s gross enrolment ratio of 51 percent against the national average of 27 percent unproductive?” he asked.

The larger idea behind a welfare scheme and it being a capital investment in human beings or a social investment is also something that differentiates it from being a freebie, say experts.

Take for example the scheme that allows free bus travel for women across Tamil Nadu, which was one of the key poll promises of the DMK ahead of the 2021 elections.

The order for implementing the scheme aimed at women empowerment was signed the same day Stalin was sworn in as chief minister.

Picture from 7 May, when Chief Minister MK Stalin interacted with women passengers and enquired about the free bus travel scheme. (mkstalin/Twitter)

Though it may have been a move to capture the women’s vote bank, the scheme also resulted in the share of women bus passengers increasing from 40 percent to 61 percent.

Thiaga Rajan shared this data while presenting the state budget this year.

Not only did the scheme allow women to save more money, it also paved the way for increasing their work participation rate.

Despite the political rivalry, one of the main reasons successive governments of Tamil Nadu have not withdrawn most such welfare schemes is that they helped pay social and economic dividends.

“No government can withdraw a scheme providing free breakfast or midday meals to schoolchildren. The governments go forward to enhance the schemes, and that’s how these welfare measures have sustained,” Manivannan explained.

In the case of the midday meal scheme, it was the erstwhile Justice Party that launched it in Chennai, and it was under K Kamaraj’s rule that the programme was extended across the state.

When MGR came to power, he expanded it further by providing nutritious meals to children between the ages of two and nine.

While M Karunanidhi added eggs — and bananas for children who don’t consume eggs — to the scheme, J Jayalalithaa added different types of rice to it.