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Key Points

The revamped PM POSHAN scheme now feeds 11 crore students across 10.35 lakh Indian schools with a ₹12,500 crore budget. Over 24 lakh cooks - mostly women - prepare meals while 97% of schools have functional kitchens. The Centre recently hiked material costs by 9.5%, adding ₹954 crore for nutritional upgrades like eggs and fruits. School nutrition gardens in 6.28 lakh institutions further supplement children's dietary needs under this flagship program.

Key Points: PM POSHAN Scheme Feeds 11 Crore Students Across 10 Lakh Schools

  • PM POSHAN provides hot meals to Balvatika & class I-VIII students
  • Budget increased to ₹12,500 crore with 26L MT foodgrains
  • 24L cooks employed, 90% being women
  • 6.28L schools now have nutrition gardens
2 min read

PM POSHAN Scheme covers about 11 cr children in over 10.35 lakh schools: Centre

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan reveals PM POSHAN now covers 11 crore children with ₹12,500 crore budget, enhancing nutrition & school participation

"The scheme serves 29,22,160 students in Balvatika and 10.7 crore in classes I-VIII - Dharmendra Pradhan"

New Delhi, July 21

The Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme, earlier known as the mid-day meal scheme, covers about 11 crore children in more than 10.35 lakh schools across India, said Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan in Parliament on Monday.

PM POSHAN scheme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented in partnership with the States and UTs for providing one hot cooked and nutritious meal to all children studying in Bal Vatika (just before class I) and classes I to VIII of government and government-aided schools.

It aims to provide nutritional support and enhance the school participation of students.

“The scheme serves 29,22,160 students studying in Balvatika; 6,58,16,610 students in classes I to V; and 4,12,07,772 students in classes VI-VIII,” said Pradhan, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

“The Budget Estimates of the Scheme are about Rs 12,500 crore, and 100 per cent foodgrains to the tune of 26 lakh MTs at an approximate cost of Rs 9,000 crore have been supplied by the Government of India through Food Corporation of India (FCI),” he added.

In addition, the Centre in April announced enhancing the ‘Material Cost’ of the PM POSHAN Scheme by 9.50 per cent. Under the new rates, applicable across all the states/UTs from May 1, the Central government bears the additional cost of approximately Rs 954 crore in FY26.

Further, Pradhan also informed that more than 24 lakh Cook-cum-Helpers (CCHs) are engaged under the Scheme. Of these, over 90 per cent are women.

"Under the Scheme, 9.11 lakh (97 per cent) Kitchen-cum-Stores (KCS) have been constructed against the sanctioned 9.41 lakh KCS all over India," the Union Minister said.

The Scheme also grants a provision of 5 per cent of the total recurring budget as the flexi component to be used by the States/UTs as per their requirement. It may be used for setting up School Nutrition Gardens and provision of Supplementary Nutrition interventions viz., chikki, eggs, milk, fruits, and additional food items, etc., in identified districts.

Pradhan noted that more than 6.28 lakh schools have set up School Nutrition Gardens.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

R
Rohit P
Good scheme but implementation needs monitoring. In our village school, sometimes the food quality is poor. Hope the increased budget improves this situation.
A
Aditya G
Feeding 11 crore children is no small feat! The scale of this program is truly impressive. Kudos to all the women cooks making this happen daily across India 🇮🇳
S
Sarah B
The nutrition gardens in schools are such a smart addition! Teaching kids about growing food while providing fresh ingredients - this is sustainable development in action.
K
Karthik V
₹12,500 crore is a huge amount! Hope there's proper audit and transparency in fund utilization. The scheme is good but corruption can ruin it.
N
Nisha Z
As a teacher in rural MP, I've seen how this scheme increases attendance. Many children come to school just for the meal, but end up getting education too. Win-win situation!
M
Michael C
Interesting to see 90% of the cooks are women - this is empowering rural women while addressing child nutrition. India's social programs are becoming more gender-inclusive.

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