MID DAY MEAL SCHEME

MID DAY MEAL SCHEME

Subject : Government Schemes

Context : The Union Minister for Education has approved the proposal to provide monetary assistance to 11.8 Crore students through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of the cooking cost component of the Mid-Day-Meal Scheme, to all eligible children, as a special welfare measure.

Concept :

• With a view to enhancing enrolment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improving nutritional levels among children, the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in 1995.
• In 2001 MDMS became a cooked Mid Day Meal Scheme.
• The Midday Meal Scheme comes under the HRD Ministry’s Department of School Education and Literacy.
• The Mid-Day Meal Scheme covers children of classes I-VIII studying in government, government-aided schools, special training centres (STC) and madarsas/ maqtabs supported under SarvaShikshaAbhiyan (SSA).
• It is the largest school feeding programme in the world.
• The scheme covers all government and government aided schools and also Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under the SarvaShikshaAbhiyan (SSA).
• The Midday Meal Scheme is covered by the National Food Security Act, 2013.