Members of the AIADMK, the DMK and the Congress were yet again locked in a debate in the Assembly on Wednesday over who should take the credit for launching various welfare schemes, including the mid-day meals scheme in schools in Tamil Nadu.
It all began with DMK legislator S. Regupathy (Thirumayam), who spoke on the debate on demand for grants for the Housing Department, started to praise his party and said it was the erstwhile DMK regime that introduced the Uzhavar sandhais to facilitate farmers to directly sell their produce to the people.
Intervening, Cooperation Minister Sellur K. Raju said it was Chief Minister Jayalalithaa who conceived the concept of setting up farm fresh vegetable outlets also known as Pannai pasumai nugarvor kootturavu kadaigal .
As Mr. Raju went on to list out schemes that were conceived by the AIADMK, Congress members objected to the mention of the mid-day meals scheme in the list of such schemes. Congress Legislative Party Leader K.R. Ramasamy pointed out that it was former Chief Minister K. Kamaraj who introduced the scheme first.
However, Mr. Raju went on to claim that what Kamaraj had introduced and what AIADMK founder M.G. Ramachandran introduced were different. “Kamaraj only introduced a scheme to give food in some schools in 1954. But, in the early eighties, Puratchi thalaivar introduced the mid-day meals scheme in all schools,” he said.
As the members in the House thought the issue was almost settled, Minister for Social Welfare and Nutritious Noon Meal Programme V. Saroja joined the debate and reiterated that it was MGR who introduced the mid-day meals scheme in the State.
