Chennai: Civic authorities in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore town have decided to provide free breakfast to poor students studying in municipal schools from the next fiscal year.

Presenting the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation's budget for 2010-11, Mayor R. Venkatachalam said poor students were not able to focus on studies as they came hungry to the school.

Breakfast would be provided in order to enable them to concentrate on their studies, he said.

The scheme is expected to cost around Rs.2 crore per year, it is learnt.

While the state government was the first to introduce noon meal schemes in the schools, the Coimbatore municipality becomes the first local body in Tamil Nadu to introduce the free breakfast scheme.

The Coimbatore Municipal Corporation runs 85 schools which have about 30,300 students. Of these, around 9,300 students are enrolled under the noon meal scheme, an official said.

These students, plus some not enrolled under the noon meal scheme, will be given free breakfast.

"Most of the parents of the students studying in the schools are coolies. Their mothers go to work early in the morning without cooking or may not have the money to cook breakfast. The kids come to school tired and wait eagerly for the noon meals," a school official told the sources over phone from Coimbatore.

The logistics are being worked out. The students may be provided with food packets or the services of noon meal workers may be enlisted to cook the breakfast. IANS