Hello Aspirants!
In today’s blog we will talk about the PM Poshan scheme. The PM Modi-led Union Cabinet on 29 September,2021 gave a green signal to the rollout of the ‘Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman’ scheme to weed out the issue of malnutrition among school-going children in India.
About the Scheme
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the continuation of the ‘National Scheme for PM POSHAN in Schools’ for the five year period 2021-22 to 2025-26. This is a Centrally-Sponsored Scheme which covers all school children studying in Classes I-VIII of Government, Government-Aided Schools. Under the scheme, students of elementary classes in government and government-aided schools across the country will be provided hot cooked meals.
The earlier name of the scheme was ‘National Scheme for Mid Day Meal in Schools’ popularly known as Mid Day Meal Scheme.
Financial Outlay
The scheme has been approved with a financial outlay of 54,062 crore rupees from the Central Government and 31,733 crore rupees from State Governments and Union Territory administrations.
This will cover 11.80 crore children studying in 11.20 lakh schools.The Central Government will also bear an additional cost of about ₹ 45,000 crore on foodgrains. Therefore, the total scheme budget will amount to ₹ 1,30,794.90 crore.
Highlights of the Scheme
- In addition to the 11.80 crore children in elementary classes, the initiative is proposed to be extended to students in pre-primary or Bal Vikas of Government and Government-aided primary schools.
- The concept of TithiBhojan will be encouraged extensively. TithiBhojan is a community-based programme in which members of the community deliver special food to children on important occasions or festivals.
- Social Audit of the scheme is made mandatory in all the districts.
- Cooking competitions will be encouraged at all levels right from village level to national level to promote ethnic cuisine and innovative menus based on locally available ingredients and vegetables.
- Farmers Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Women Self-Help Groups will be encouraged to participate in the scheme’s implementation. Use of locally grown traditional food items will be encouraged to boost local economic growth.
- Field visits for progress monitoring and inspections will be facilitated for students of eminent Universities / Institutions and also trainee teachers of Regional Institutes of Educations (RIE) and District Institutes of Education and Training (DIET).
Special Provision To Students
The government is also considering developing nutrition gardens on school campuses with active participation from students. Nutrition gardens are already present in over 3 lakh schools. The gardens are being provided to offer additional micro-nutrients to students. Supplementary nutrition items are also made available to children in aspirational districts and districts with a high prevalence of anaemia.
Other Announcements
The Cabinet also approved the doubling of the Nimach-Ratlam railway line in Madhya Pradesh. Along with it, approval was also given to the doubling of Rajkot-Kanalus railway line in Gujarat. Doubling of Nimach-Ratlam section will increase the capacity of section and the proposed doubling from Rajkot to Kanalus would lead to all round development of Saurashtra region.
With this we come to the end of this blog. Stay tuned with hranker.com for more updates.
