Chennai: The school education department has ordered disciplinary action against officials in Cuddalore for directing headmasters to fund kitchen, storage, and drinking-water arrangements out of pocket, ahead of the breakfast scheme’s extension on Sept 17.In a circular, school education secretary J Innocent Divya said the personnel responsible for the instructions had acted in a “negligent manner”, and that action had been ordered on the directions of school education minister Rajmohan.In an earlier circular, dated Sept 9, the Cuddalore chief education officer asked authorities in Cuddaloreand Virudhachalam to ensure school headmasters use their “own funds” to fix deficiencies in kitchen, electrical lighting, and drinking-water and storage-room facilities, and to provide plates and tumblers to students. The official had also asked district education officers to take geo-tagged photographs of the scheme’s name boards and report to the CEO’s office.The circular drew flak, with former school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss hitting out at the TVK govt for burdening the school staff. “This govt should stop imposing a financial burden on teachers and also abandon this mindset of looking at them with suspicion,” Anbil Mahesh posted on X. Anbumani Ramadoss said, “I urge that the govt itself bear the expenses for the name boards, plates, tumblers and other facilities required for the morning breakfast scheme.”
