PM POSHAN

Subject – Governance

Context – 24 lakh pre-primary students to get meals

Concept –

The Centre has rebranded the 26-year-old national midday meal scheme to give a hot cooked meal to 11.8 crore government school students from classes 1 to 8, with the Cabinet approving a proposal to rename it as the PM POSHAN (Poshan Shakti Nirman) scheme on Wednesday.
From the next financial year, it will also cover the 24 lakh children studying in balvatikas, the pre-primary section of government schools.
Although this year’s budget for mid-day meals remains unchanged, an additional ₹266 crore is expected to be added as the Central government’s share to cater to balvatika students from 2022-23,
The extension of mid-day meals to pre-primary students, who are to be incorporated into the formal education system, was a key recommendation of the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 and the population of balvatikas — which offer one year of pre-school classes — is expected to rise from the existing 24 lakh as the policy is implemented
The PM POSHAN scheme has been approved for the next five-year period until 2025-26, with a collective outlay of ₹1.31 lakh crore, including ₹31,733 crore as the share to be borne by the State governments.
It will improve nutritional status, encourage education and learning and increase enrolments in government schools.
The rebranded scheme aims to focus on “holistic nutrition” goals.

To know about Midday Meal Scheme, please click here.