Governor Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan launched the Raj Bhavan Annam canteen at the Raj Bhavan Community Hall, here, today .
The Raj Bhavan Annam canteen will provide free breakfast to the Raj Bhavan school children and the sanitation, gardening, and other workers of the Raj Bhavan.
As per the vision of the Governor to provide free and nutritious breakfast to the Raj Bhavan School children, the Sri Satya Sai Seva Samiti organisations came forward to offer free breakfast at the Raj Bhavan Annam facility.
She personally went round the canteen facility and interacted with all those children and sanitation workers, who were having breakfast, and enquired about the quality of the breakfast, which they said, was very tasty and nutritious.
The Governor stated that having a good nutritious breakfast was vital for the physical, cognitive and academic development of the school going children.
Referring to some studies, the Governor said that most of the lunch boxes of school going children were having potato chips, and other junk food items that are not really healthy.
We must ensure that the children get required nutrients, vitamins and minerals through their food and many traditional foods do have such vital nutrients.
Hon’ble Governor thanked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji for the implementation of Poshan Abhiyan to ensure the supply of nutritious food to the children and end the malnutrition in the country.
“Tamil Nadu’s former chief ministers Kamaraj Nadar and MG Ram Chandran’s initiatives in offering free Mid Day Meal and breakfast respectively in schools have reduced the dropout rate and increased the enrolment, while improving the academic performance of the children in Tamil Nadu,” Dr. Tamilisai Soundararajan added.
The Governor stated that the National Education Policy-2020 also envisions the provision of free breakfast to all the school children in the country. “Raj Bhavan Annam canteen is an initiative in tune with the vision of the NEP-2020,” she added.
