PM-POSHAN Scheme
PM-POSHAN Scheme:
In September 2021, the Union Cabinet approved the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman or PM-POSHAN for providing one hot cooked meal in Government and Government-aided schools with the financial outlay of Rs 1.31 trillion.
The scheme replaced the national programme for mid-day meal in schools or Mid-day Meal Scheme.
It has been launched for an initial period of five years (2021-22 to 2025-26).
What are the Features of the PM Poshan Scheme?
Coverage:
Primary (1-5) and upper primary (6-8) schoolchildren are currently entitled to 100 grams and 150 grams of food grains per working day each, to ensure a minimum of 700 calories.
It also covers students of balvatikas (children in the 3-5 year age group) from pre-primary classes.
Nutritional Gardens:
Use of locally-grown nutritional food items will be encouraged from "school nutrition gardens" for boosting the local economic growth, and will also include involvement of Farmers Producer Organizations (FPO) and Women Self Help Groups in the implementation of the scheme.
Supplementary Nutrition:
The scheme has a provision for supplementary nutrition for children in aspirational districts and those with high prevalence of anaemia.
It does away with the restriction on the part of the Centre to provide funds only for wheat, rice, pulses and vegetables.
Tithi Bhojan Concept:
TithiBhojan is a community participation programme in which people provide special food to children on special occasions/festivals.
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT):
The Centre has directed the states and the UTs to switch to Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system for providing compensation to the cooks and helpers working under the scheme.
Nutrition Expert:
A nutrition expert is to be appointed in each school whose responsibility is to ensure that health aspects such as Body Mass Index (BMI), weight and haemoglobin levels are addressed.
Social Audit of the Scheme:
A social audit of the scheme has also been mandated for each school in each state to study the implementation of the scheme, which was so far not being done by all states.
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