In April 2025, the Ministry of Education (MoE) announced a 9.5% hike in the material cost under the centrally sponsored Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) scheme, earlier known as the Midday Meal Scheme.
- The revision comes in light of inflation trends, based on the Consumer Price Index for Rural Labourers (CPI-RL), which is compiled by the Chandigarh based Labour Bureau under the Ministry of Labour & Employment (MoL&E).
- An overall budget of Rs 12,500 crore has been allocated for the PM POSHAN scheme in the Financial Year 2025–26 (FY26), and to implement the revised cooking cost, the Union Government will bear an additional Rs 954 crore.
Key Revisions:
I.The material cost per student under the PM POSHAN scheme has been revised with effect from May 1, 2025, as follows:
i.For Kindergarten and Primary classes (Grades 1 to 5): increased from Rs 6.19 to Rs 6.78 per student per day.
ii.For Upper Primary classes (Grades 6 to 8): increased from Rs 9.29 to Rs 10.17 per student per day.
II.When all the components (ingredients, fuel, grains, etc.) are taken into account:
- The average cost per meal for primary students (classes 1 to 5) is around Rs 12.13. For upper primary students (classes 6 to 8), it is about Rs 17.62
About Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) scheme :
The PM POSHAN scheme, earlier known as the Mid Day Meal Scheme, was started in 1995 and got its new name in 2021. It aims to provide one hot cooked meal every school day to children studying in Balvatika (pre-primary) and classes 1 to 8 in government and government-aided schools.
Key Points:
i.The funding for the scheme is shared between the Central Government (CG) and State Governments in a 60:40 ratio (for most states).
ii.Under the PM POSHAN scheme, the material cost is used to buy ingredients like pulses, vegetables, oil, spices, condiments, and fuel needed to cook the meals.
iii.Apart from this, the CG provides about 2.6 million metric tonnes (mmt) of food grains every year through the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
iv.The Centre bears the entire cost of the food grains, including a Rs 9,000 crore subsidy and transport charges.
About Ministry of Education (MoE):
Union Minister– Dharmendra Pradhan (Constituency-Sambalpur, Odisha)
Ministers of State ( MoS)- Jayant Chaudhary (Rajya Sabha – Uttar Pradesh, UP); Sukanta Majumdar (Constituency- Balurghat, West Bengal, WB)
