Karur collector warns parents objecting to SC woman cooking for govt breakfast scheme

Following information that a section of parents prevented their children from having breakfast at the school in Velanchettiyur in Aravakurichi block of Karur district in the state, since the cook belonged to SC community, the Collector undertook a surprise inspection today and found that only 12 out of a total 27 students had breakfast.

Karur district collector T Prabhushankar on Tuesday warned a section of parents objecting to a Scheduled Caste (SC) woman cooking for the primary school children under the state government's breakfast scheme, of stringent action if they discouraged their wards from partaking the breakfast. Taking exception to the cook based on her caste is tantamount to discrimination and such an attitude would attract punishment, he said. Following information that a section of parents prevented their children from having breakfast at the school in Velanchettiyur in Aravakurichi block of Karur district in the state, since the cook belonged to SC community, the Collector undertook a surprise inspection today and found that only 12 out of a total 27 students had breakfast. ''We monitor the number of children having breakfast in all the schools through a mobile app. Out of 27 students, only 10 were having breakfast at this school. We advised the parents about five days ago not to discriminate and following this, two-three children started taking the breakfast and 15 children were not taking the breakfast continuously,'' the Collector told PTI. ''I visited the school and found that the quality of food was very good and the preparation was delicious,'' Prabhushankar said. When one of the parents refused to allow the child to have breakfast, the official asked the police to take him into custody. He warned the other parents that their children would be issued transfer certificates and this would make it difficult for their wards to continue education elsewhere. ''I told them not to misguide their children. Following the interaction, the parents acknowledged their mistake and promised never to repeat it,'' he said. In the meantime, the family of the man, who was remanded, pleaded that they would not discriminate. All of them were from humble background belonging to different communities and were either labourers or working at farms.