Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) earlier known as the National Programme of Mid-Day Meal in Schools is one of the foremost rights-based Centrally Sponsored Schemes under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA). The primary objective of the scheme is to improve the nutritional status of children studying in classes I-VIII in eligible schools. Nutrition and food norms under the scheme are as under:
Nutrition norm per child per day
Level Calorie Portion
Primary 450 20 gms
Upper Primary 700 40 gms
Food norms per child per day
Level Food grains Pulses Vegetables Oil & Fats Salts & condiments
Primary 100 gms 20 gms 50 gms 5 gms As per need
Upper Primary 150 gms 30 gms 75 gms 7.5 gms As per need
The main aspects of the PM POSHAN Scheme
Food Grains: Supply of food grains @ 100 grams per child per school day for primary and 150 grams for upper primary at NFSA rate i.e. ₹ 1 per kg for coarse grains, ₹ 2 per kg for wheat and ₹ 3 per kg for rice.
Cooking Cost: It includes the cost of ingredients, e.g. pulses, vegetables, cooking oil, other condiments and fuel. The per child per day cooking cost is ₹ 4.97 for primary and ₹ 7.45 for upper primary w.e.f. 1st April 2020.
Honorarium to Cook-cum-Helpers: @ ₹ 1000 per month for 10 months in a year.
Transportation Assistance: As per PDS rate for transportation of food grains from FCI godown to school door steps. Maximum₹ 1500 per MT for transportation of food grains from FCI godown to school door steps for States other than NER and 2 Himalayan States and 2 UTs.
Management, Monitoring and Evaluation (MME): @ 3% of the aggregate cost of foodgrains, cooking cost, Honorarium to Cook-cum-Helpers and Transportation Assistance.
Provision of Meals during summer vacations in drought/disaster-affected areas.
Kitchen-cum-store: As per plinth area norm and State Schedule of Rates. 20 sq meters for schools having an enrolment of 100 students. Additional 4 sq meters for every addition of up to 100 students.
Kitchen devices: Linked with enrolment.
Repair of kitchen-cum-stores: ₹ 10,000/- per unit, for the kitchen-cum-stores, which were constructed 10 years ago.
Fortification of food items: Fortification of food items in a systematic manner through the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
Innovation / Flexibility component with no separate budgetary support: Five per cent of the aggregate of the cost of foodgrains, cooking cost, transport assistance, honorarium to cook-cum-helpers, and MME with no separate additional budgetary support for this component. The requirement of funds under this component will be met from available funds and implemented as per the Department of Expenditure’s OM No. 55(5)/PF-II/2011 dated 06.09.2016.
Provision of meals to preparatory classes or Balvatika (that is before class I) in primary schools as covered in Samagra Shiksha as envisaged under National Education Policy.
The objectives of the Scheme are to address two of the pressing problems for the majority of children in India, viz. hunger and education by:
Improving the nutritional status of eligible children in Government and Government aided schools.
Encouraging poor children, belonging to disadvantaged sections, to attend school more regularly and help them concentrate on classroom activities.
Providing nutritional support to children of the elementary stage in drought-affected and disaster-affected areas during summer vacation.
Comments