Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman Scheme

About Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman Scheme:

• It was earlier known as the National Programme of Mid-Day Meal in schools.
• In September 2021, Mid-Day Meal Scheme was renamed as Pradhan Mantri POSHAN Scheme.
• It is a centrally sponsored scheme under which one hot cooked meal is served to students studying in Balvatika and classes I to VIII, in Government and Government-aided schools on all school-days.
• The scheme aims at providing nutritional support and enhancing school participation of students.
• 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.
• Recently, on the basis of the inflation index provided by the Labour Bureau, the Ministry of Education, Government of India, has enhanced the ‘Material Cost’ by 13.70 %.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Education

Q1: What is nutrition?

It is the assimilation by living organisms of food materials that enable them to grow, maintain themselves, and reproduce.

News: Enhancement of ‘Material Cost’under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme