On 15th August 1995, Midday Meal Scheme was launched in India for children under the name of ‘National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education’ (NP-NSPE). Recently (September 2021), the Government renamed this scheme to Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman or ‘PM POSHAN’. Each alteration in name brings some changes in the scheme. Stay tuned to learn about these changes and everything about the Midday Meal Scheme in India.

Under the Midday Meal (MDM) Scheme, children get one meal of the day. Here, children need to be enrolled in government schools, local body schools, special training centres, maktabs, madrasas and government-aided schools that are supported under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

Under the Midday Meal Scheme in India, around 11.80 crore children (in 11.20 lakh government and government-aided schools) will get hot cooked food.

However, under the new scheme ‘PM POSHAN’, 24 lakhs of children studying in pre-primary schools who are already covered under the Integrated Child Development Services will get food under the MDM scheme.

The PM Poshan will be operational initially for 5 years (2021-22 to 2025-26). Here, the Central Government will take responsibility for ₹ 54,061 crores of the total approximate expenditure of ₹ 1.3 lakh crore. On the other hand, the State Governments will pay ₹ 31,733 crores.

Children will receive food under the Midday Meal Scheme if they study in Primary (Class I-V) and Upper Primary Classes (Class VI-VIII) in any of the following schools:

• Government schools
• Govt. Aided schools, 
• Local Body, 
• EGS and AIE Centres, 
• Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan 
• NCLP Schools run by the Ministry of Labour

Since the Midday Meal Scheme in India aims to provide hot cooked food to children, there is no need to apply for it separately.

Students studying in the schools mentioned in the previous section can get food without a further application process.

Following is a list of benefits of Midday Meal Scheme:

• Children from classes I-VIII will get a nutritious meal every day except the holidays. 
• This scheme ensures children who do not get food at home will have at least one meal a day.
•  Children can get food for free.
• The revamped scheme ‘PM Poshan’ includes 24 lakh beneficiaries in the age group of 5-6 years who are part of the formal school system- Balvatika. The Government started Balvatika, a pre-school, in the last year to include younger children as a part of the formal education system.

Now that individuals/parents know about Midday Meal Scheme in India, they can ensure their children get at least a one-time meal at school and the benefits of education.