{"id":34796,"date":"2023-04-18T04:14:36","date_gmt":"2023-04-17T22:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=34796"},"modified":"2025-04-20T17:21:22","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T11:51:22","slug":"mid-day-meal-scheme-objectives-and-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/mid-day-meal-scheme-objectives-and-features\/","title":{"rendered":"Mid-Day Meal Scheme: Objectives and Features"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>About Mid-Day Meal Scheme<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Objectives of Mid-Day Meal Scheme<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Features of Mid-Day Meal Scheme<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Calorie Intake for Mid-Day Meal Scheme<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Implementation and Funding for Mid-Day Meal Scheme<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>PM POSHAN Scheme<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>About NAFED<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>News Summary<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Union Ministry of Education has written to State governments to procure pulses (chana dal) for the Prime Minister\u2019s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition (POSHAN) from NAFED.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>About Mid-Day Meal Scheme<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Mid-Day Meal Scheme was started in India on 15<sup>th<\/sup> August 1995 as \u2018<strong><u>National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE)<\/u><\/strong>\u2019.<\/li>\n<li>It was renamed as \u2018<strong><u>National Programme of Mid-Day Meal in Schools<\/u><\/strong>\u2019 in October 2007, also known as the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme.<\/li>\n<li>Under the scheme, hot cooked meal per day is provided to all children (<strong><u>studying in Class I to VIII<\/u><\/strong>) enrolled in government schools, local body schools, government-aided schools, special training centres (STC), maktabs and madrasas supported under the <strong>Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Objectives of Mid-Day Meal Scheme<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>To increase the enrolment in the schools of the children who belong to disadvantaged sections of the society.<\/li>\n<li>To increase the attendance of the children in government and government-aided schools.<\/li>\n<li>To retain the children studying in class I to VIII.<\/li>\n<li>To give nutritional support to the children studying in the elementary stage, especially in the drought-affected areas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00b7 \u00a0 To address hunger and malnutrition and improve socialisation among castes.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Features of Mid-Day Meal Scheme<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Every school should have a hygienic cooking infrastructure for hygienically cooked mid-day meals.<\/li>\n<li>The mid-day meals are to be served only on the school premises on all working days of the school.<\/li>\n<li>The headmaster or headmistress is entitled to utilise the school funds on account of mid-day meal fund exhaustion.<\/li>\n<li>Quality items with <strong>AGMARK<\/strong> are procured for cooking the mid-day meals in the schools.\n<ul>\n<li>AGMARK is a <strong><u>certification mark employed on agricultural products in India<\/u><\/strong>, assuring that they conform to a set of standards approved by the Ministry of Agricultural &amp; Farmers Welfare.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Two or three adult members taste the cooked meals from the school management committee.<\/li>\n<li>The Food and Drugs Administration Department of the State can collect samples for ensuring the quality and nutritional value of the meals.<\/li>\n<li><i><strong>Food allowance is provided to the children when the cooked meals cannot be provided because of unforeseen circumstances<\/strong><\/i> in the following manner:\n<ul>\n<li>Quantity of the food grains according to the entitlement of a child, and<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>o \u00a0 Cooking cost prevailing in the respective state.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Calorie Intake for Mid-Day Meal Scheme<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The calories intake prescribed per child per school day is as follows:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi-test.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/content\/ckeditor\/2023\/04\/19\/image-20230419001220-1.png\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Image Caption: Calorie Intake<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Implementation and Funding for Mid-Day Meal Scheme<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Each State\/UT has to set up <u>State Steering-cum Monitoring Committees<\/u> (SSMCs) at the State, District and Block level to oversee the implementation of this scheme, including establishing a mechanism to maintain the quality and nutritional standards of the meals.<\/li>\n<li>This is a <strong><u>Centrally Sponsored Scheme<\/u><\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>Hence, the cost is shared between the Centre (60%) and States (40%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Nodal Ministry<\/u><\/strong> \u2013\u00a0 Ministry of Education<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>PM POSHAN Scheme<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In September 2021, Mid-Day Meal Scheme was renamed as <strong>Pradhan Mantri POSHAN Scheme<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Major Changes introduced to the scheme are \u2013\n<ul>\n<li>The scheme is proposed to be <strong><u>extended to students studying in pre-primary or Bal Vatikas of Government and Government-aided primary schools<\/u><\/strong> in addition to all the <strong>11.80 crore<\/strong> children from elementary classes covered under the Mid-Day Meal scheme.<\/li>\n<li>The concept of \u2018<strong>TithiBhojan\u2019<\/strong> will be encouraged extensively.\n<ul>\n<li>TithiBhojan is a community participation programme in which <u>people provide special food to children on special occasions\/festivals<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Government is promoting development of <strong><u>School Nutrition Gardens<\/u><\/strong> in schools to give children first-hand experience with nature and gardening.\n<ul>\n<li>The harvest of these gardens will be used in the scheme to provide additional micro nutrients.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Social Audit of the scheme<\/u><\/strong> is made mandatory in all the districts.<\/li>\n<li>Special provision is made for providing supplementary nutrition items to children in aspirational districts and districts with high prevalence of <strong>Anemia<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Cooking competitions will be encouraged at all levels<\/u><\/strong> right from village level to national level to promote ethnic cuisine and innovative menus based on locally available ingredients and vegetables.<\/li>\n<li>Involvement of <u>Farmers Producer Organizations<\/u> and <u>Women Self Help Groups<\/u> in implementation of the scheme will be encouraged.<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Use of locally grown traditional food items<\/u><\/strong> for a fillip to local economic growth will be encouraged.<\/li>\n<li>Field visits for progress monitoring and inspections will be facilitated for students of eminent Universities\/Institutions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>About NAFED<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd.(NAFED) was established on the auspicious day of Gandhi Jayanti on 2<sup>nd<\/sup> October 1958.<\/li>\n<li>It is registered under the <strong>Multi State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>NAFED is now <strong><u>one of the largest procurement as well as marketing agencies for agricultural products in India<\/u><\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Objectives \u2013<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>To facilitate, coordinate and promote the marketing and trading activities of the cooperative institutions, partners and associates in agricultural, other commodities, articles and goods;<\/li>\n<li>To undertake purchase, sale and supply of agricultural, marketing and processing requisites, such as manure, seeds, fertilizer, agricultural implements and machinery, etc.;<\/li>\n<li>To act as warehouseman under the Warehousing Act and own and construct its own godowns and cold storages;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong><u>Agricultural farmers are the main members of NAFED<\/u><\/strong>, who have the authority to say in the form of members of the General Body in the working of NAFED.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>News Summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Union Ministry of Education has written to State governments to procure pulses (chana dal) for the Prime Minister\u2019s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition (POSHAN) from NAFED.<\/li>\n<li>However, major states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal has rejected the Union Ministry\u2019s recommendation.<\/li>\n<li>West Bengal government has argued that <i><strong>during the Covid-19 pandemic, the chana supplied by NAFED was of extremely inferior quality, mixed with dust and gravel<\/strong><\/i>.<\/li>\n<li>Uttar Pradesh government has argued that the <i><strong>state has plenty of local supply and hence in need to procure pulses from NAFED<\/strong><\/i>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1)\u00a0 Which states are the biggest producer of Pulses in India?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka are the top-producing states of pulses in India.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2)<\/strong> <strong>What is Balvatika Programme?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Balvatika programme is envisaged as a one-year programme before Grade 1 which is meant to prepare children with cognitive and linguistic Competencies that are prerequisites for learning to read, write and develop number sense through a play-based approach.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/buy-mid-day-meal-pulses-from-nafed-centre-tells-states-up-bengal-say-no-8561929\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Buy mid-day meal pulses from Nafed, Centre tells states; UP, Bengal say no<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nafed-india.com\/origin-nafed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>NAFED<\/u><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mid-Day Meal Scheme aims to give nutritional support to the children studying in the elementary stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":34797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-34796","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}