Mid-Day Meal Scheme Renamed As PM-POSHAN, Extended To Pre-Schools

New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has renamed the mid-day meal scheme as the ‘National Scheme for PM-POSHAN in Schools’ or the PM POSHAN scheme on Wednesday (September 29). The cabinet that was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the continuation of the mid-day meal scheme for another five years till 2026. According to the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the mid-meal scheme has now been extended to children in pre-primary school in addition to children studying in Classes 1 to 8 in government and government-aided schools across the country.

Also Read: What Ails India’s Mid-Day Meal Programme?

The education minister further said that PM POSHAN will cover about 11.80 crore children studying in 11.20 lakh schools. He said on the microblogging site, Twitter,

To improve nutritional status, encourage education and learning, increase enrolments in schools and promote the overall growth of children, PM Narendra Modi has approved the PM POshan SHAkti Nirman scheme for the next 5 years with a collective outlay of ₹ 1,31,000 crore.

According to the Union Cabinet, the government has committed a financial outlay of Rs. 1,30,794.90 crore from which Rs 54,000 crore will be spent by the Central Government and Rs 31,733.17 crore by the states and Union Territories.

The Cabinet has also decided to encourage the concept of ‘Tithi Bhojan’ which is a community participation programme to allow people from the community to provide special food to children on occasions and festivals. It is recommended that the food for ‘Tithi Bhojan’ should be prepared using the harvest from the nutrition gardens in schools. The cabinet in its press release highlighted that in order to encourage School Nutrition Gardens, children will be given first-hand experience with nature and gardening. It said that School Nutrition Gardens have already been developed in more than 3 lakh schools.

Also Read: National Nutrition Month: 10 Things To Know About India’s Mid-Day Meal Scheme, World’s Largest School Feeding Program

Prescribed Nutritional Content Per Meal Per Child Under PM POSHAN To Remain The Same As MDM

Like the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme, hot cooked meals will be provided to the children and the prescribed nutritional content per meal per child will also remain the same which is:

– at least 450 calories with 12 grams of protein for primary school children
– 700 calories with 20 grams of protein for upper primary school children

As being done under MDM, PM POSHAN will continue to provide 100 grams of food grains, 20 grams of pulses, 50 grams of vegetables and 5 grams of oils and fats to children in primary classes. The children of upper-primary schools, on the other hand, are entitled to get 150 grams of food grains, 30 grams of pulses, 75 grams of vegetables and 7.5 grams of oils and fats.

Also Read: Here Are Tips On How To Tackle ‘Hidden Hunger’ In Children Caused By Lack Of Micronutrients

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity,  that is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.