The PM POSHAN scheme is being implemented by the Ministry of Education across all the government and government-aided schools in India. It provides nutritional meal to each and every child of Bal Vatika (pre-primary or before class I) and the children studying in classes I to VIII. The scheme is implemented across the country covering all the eligible children without any discrimination of gender and social class to achieve the goal of universalisation of elementary education.

The main objectives of the PM POSHAN Scheme are to tackle two of the important issues for majority of children in India, hunger, and education, by:

• Improving the nutritional status of eligible children in Government and Government aided schools.
• Encouraging the poor children, coming from the disadvantaged sections, to attend school more regularly and help them concentrate on classroom activities.
• Providing nutritional support to the children of elementary stage in drought-affected during summers as well as disaster affected areas.

Food grains:

• 100 gram per child per day for children in Bal Vatika (pre-primary) and primary classes
• 150 gram per child per day for children in Upper primary classes and NCLP schools
• The cost of food grains is borne entirely by the Central Government.

Material cost:

• It covers expenditure on vegetables, pulses, condiments, salt, cooking oils, fuel etc. which is covered on sharing basis by the Centre and States/UTs.
• The cooking cost as per the norms since October 1, 2022, are:
  • Rs. 5.45 (6.5 cents) per child per school day for children in Bal Vatika (pre-primary) and primary classes
  • Rs. 8.17 (9.8 cents) per child per day for children in upper primary classes.
• It is periodically revised by the Central government.

Cook-cum-helpers:

• One cook-cum-helper can be engaged for up to 25 students, two cook-cum-helpers for schools having 26 to 100 students. Further, one additional cook-cum-helper is permitted for every addition of up to 100 students.
• Each of these helpers is paid a minimum honorarium of Rs. 1,000 (~US$ 12) per month.
• The States can pay over and above this recommended minimum payment from their own resources.

Transportation assistance:

• Rate of transportation assistance is as per the public distribution system (PDS) rates approved in the respective State/UT.
• Apart from the Northeastern region and 2 Himalayan States and 2 UTs, it is restricted to maximum of Rs. 1,500 (~US$ 18) per MT for States/UTs.

Management, Monitoring and Evaluation (MME):

• Funds for MME comprise of 3% of aggregate of cost of food grains, cooking cost, honorarium to cook-cum-helpers and transportation assistance.
• 90% of the funds are released to States/UTs and remaining 10% are utilised as national component.
• States/UTs should assign 50% of these funds for school level expenditure, while the remaining 50% funds should be allotted at state, district, and block levels.

Kitchen-cum-stores:

• The norms for construction of kitchen cum stores are as per plinth area norm and State Schedule of Rates (SoR).
• A 20 square meter kitchen-cum-store may be constructed for school having enrolment of 100 students. Additional four-square metre may be added for every addition of up to 100 students.
• The slab of 100 students may be modified by the States/UTs depending upon local conditions.

Kitchen Devices:

• States and UTs have the flexibility to incur expenditure on
  • Cooking devices
  • Containers for storage of food grains and other ingredients
  • Utensils for cooking and serving etc.
• There is a provision of replacement of these kitchen devices after 5 years from the date of sanction.
• The procurement of kitchen devices is linked with enrolment as follows:

  Enrolment (No. of children)	Unit cost of assistance
  Up 50	Rs. 10,000 (US$ 120)
  51 to 150	Rs. 15,000 (US$ 180)
  151 to 250	Rs. 20,000 (US$ 240)
  151 and above	Rs. 25,000 (US$ 300)

Repair of kitchen-cum-stores:

• The Central assistance of Rs. 10,000 (US$ 120) per kitchen-cum-store, which were constructed 10 years ago with estimates based on SoR.
• In case of unconventional items not covered under SoR, the rates would be approved by the State level Steering cum Monitoring Committee.

Innovation and Flexibility:

• Five percent of the aggregate of the cost of food grains, cooking cost, transport assistance, honorarium to cook-cum-helpers and MME is allocated to this component with no separate additional budgetary support.
• The requirement of funds under this component will be met from available funds.

The Government has given a high priority to the issue of malnutrition and education. It has made conscious attempts to resolve these issues through PM POSHAN scheme. The continued efforts through this scheme seek to reduce malnutrition in the children aged 6-14 years as well as encourage them to attend the school more regularly. The concept of Tithi-Bhojan has been encouraged under this scheme through which people provide nutritious and healthy food to children on special occasions and festivals. This has helped to develop a feeling of equity and a sense of belonging towards the community among the children.

Special provisions have been also made to provide supplementary nutrition items to the children in districts with high percentage of Anaemia. The Government has also promoted the development of Nutrition Gardens in schools to provide children with a first-hand experience of nature and gardening. Moreover, the harvest of these gardens is used in the scheme providing additional micronutrients. Social audit of the scheme has been made mandatory in all the districts to bring transparency and accountability in the application of the scheme. Overall, through this scheme, the government has been working towards ensuring the well-being and development of future generations of this country by providing them the access to nutritious meals and elementary education.