Chennai, Sep 22 (IANS) : As Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay launched the expanded Free Breakfast Scheme at a Government Middle School in Chennai, DMK spokesperson T.K.S. Elangovan on Tuesday alleged that it was originally introduced by former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin and that its name was changed to deny him credit.
Under the expansion, the free morning meal programme, which was earlier available to students from Classes 1 to 5, will now cover students from Classes 6 to 8 as well.
Speaking to IANS, Elangovan said, “It was a scheme introduced by M.K. Stalin when we were in power. He has changed the name because he does not want to give credit to Stalin. The entire world knows that Stalin introduced the scheme. When he introduced it, it became popular not only nationwide but worldwide. Many countries also followed suit and introduced morning breakfast schemes for children.”
The DMK spokesperson also criticised the TVK, saying the party lacked political experience and alleging that some of its leaders had made inappropriate remarks while addressing public issues.
“TVK don’t know politics. When their MLAs speak, they kill Tamil. When their Ministers speak, they blabber something. They don’t care about what the people will think,” he told IANS.
“Yesterday, one Minister, when people went and asked him about some grievance, said, ‘Did you vote for me? You had voted only for Vijay.’ A Minister in this Cabinet says, ‘You had not voted for me, so I don’t want to do anything for you.’ That is also what we are seeing,” he claimed.
Elangovan also reacted to the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, which is set to come into force on October 20, describing it as a positive development for the country.
“That’s a good thing for the country. Any trade agreement means a buyer and seller agreement. Industrial agreements mean they will invest in India, but this is only a trade agreement. Whatever products are made in New Zealand, India will buy, and whatever products are made in India, New Zealand will buy. That’s a normal thing,” he said.
