Chennai, Nov 13 Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay marked Children’s Day by distributing cakes to school students in Kolathur here on Friday, spreading cheer among the young ones.
Clad in a silk shirt and dhoti, the chief minister arrived at the Madumanagar Chennai Corporation Middle School in Kolathur and distributed cakes and greeting cards to children in their classrooms, marking the launch of the statewide programme.
This was the first Children’s Day event celebrated by Vijay after he became chief minister in May. Incidentally, this was also the first time the state government distributed cakes to schoolchildren on the occasion.
To mark Children’s Day, officially observed on November 14, the state government organised special events in government and aided schools on Friday and distributed 45-gram cakes along with greeting cards to students across the state.
At the Kolathur event, the beaming children stood up one after another in their respective classrooms to receive the gifts from the chief minister, responding with “Thank you, sir.”
After distributing the cakes, Vijay lifted a boy, fed him a piece and asked if he liked it. The shy child twirled his little fingers around the talisman hanging from his neck, broke into an adorable grin and nodded in appreciation. Vijay then put him down and interacted with the other children. A video of the chief minister lifting the boy and asking him a couple of questions went viral on social media platforms.
Vijay initially distributed cakes to students of Classes 1 to 5 and later to those in the other classes.
The greeting cards given to the students carried the message “All is well, be confident,” along with Children’s Day wishes from the CM.
The event concluded with a cultural programme presented by the students.
Earlier, Vijay made a surprise visit to his Perambur Assembly constituency office and received petitions from scores of people who had gathered outside.
He made a surprise inspection of a government school nutrition centre and personally tasted the food being prepared for students to ensure that quality and nutritional standards were maintained.
Around 61.8 lakh students studying in government and aided schools across Tamil Nadu received cakes as part of the Children’s Day celebrations.
The state government had sanctioned Rs 9.27 crore for distributing cakes and greeting cards, signed by the chief minister, to 61,84,566 students in primary, middle, high and higher secondary schools, the government said.
To ensure timely delivery, the Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation (TNCSC) floated tenders and procured cakes from four major manufacturers. Chief Educational Officers, District Educational Officers and Block Educational Officers coordinated the distribution to ensure that the cakes reached all schools in time for the celebrations.
Speaker J C D Prabhakar distributed cakes, greeting cards and gifts to students of the Chennai Middle School in Teynampet Zone and conveyed his wishes.
Several ministers, including A Rajmohan, and district collectors also distributed cakes and greeting cards to students in other parts of the state.
(PTI News)
