CM Proposes Breakfast Inclusion in Mid-Day Meal

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday proposed expanding the mid-day meal (MDM) scheme to include breakfast, aiming to improve school attendance and reduce dropout rates among economically disadvantaged children. Speaking at the foundation stone-laying ceremony for a ₹25.45-crore centralised MDM kitchen in Dibrugarh, Sarma said providing both breakfast and lunch in schools could significantly boost enrolment, particularly in tea gardens and rural areas. “If we provide breakfast along with lunch to the 35 lakh school-going children in Assam, it will greatly improve attendance and reduce dropouts,” he said. The Chief Minister emphasized that the initiative would address basic nutritional needs critical for children's physical and cognitive development and open new educational opportunities for low-income families. He also announced the establishment of new centralised kitchens in Nalbari, Tezpur, Dibrugarh, and Lakhimpur. These will serve meals to schools in their respective districts. The state will build the facilities, while the Hare Krishna Foundation and Akshaya Patra will manage food distribution in partnership with the government. Sarma noted that a similar kitchen had already begun operations in Majuli earlier this year. Currently, Assam has three functional centralised MDM kitchens in Kamrup (Metro), Kamrup, and Jorhat. The CM reiterated the broader role of the MDM scheme in ensuring child nutrition and strengthening educational outcomes.