As a special welfare measure, Union Minister for Education Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ approved the proposal to provide monetary assistance to 11.8 Crore students through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of the cooking cost component of the Mid-Day-Meal Scheme (MDM). INR 1200 Crore has been allocated to State Governments/UT for this purpose.
- Beneficiaries – Class 1-8 students who are studying in 11.20 Lakh Government and Government aided schools across India will be benefitted.
- Each Child will get approximately INR 100 under the One-time welfare measure.
- The INR 1200 Crore fund has been provided from the Cooking cost component of MDM Scheme.
- The assistance is aimed at safeguarding the nutritional levels of children and aid them in protecting their immunity during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
- The total Central allocation for the Mid Day Meal scheme in 2021-22 is ₹11,500 crore.
Allocation of Food Grain
In May, 2021, the Union Cabinet had approved a proposal for distribution of free-of-cost food grains at 5 kg per person per month to 80 crore beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) for a period of 2 months (May-June, 2021).
Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDM)
i.The school meal programme was launched in 1995 as a Central sponsored scheme. It is designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children across India.
- It is implemented by the Ministry of Education & covered by the National Food Security Act, 2013.
- Under the scheme, Centre and State share cooking cost for daily meals in the ratio of 60:40 for non-North eastern states and UTs with legislatures except Jammu & Kashmir. For others it is split in the ratio of 90:10.
- According to a recent notification, the cooking cost per child per day is INR 4.97 for primary section and INR 7.45 for upper primary.
ii.India is committed to providing adequate nutrition food for children under the Convention on the Rights of the Child of the UN.
Recent Related News:
On 28th January 2021, UNICEF released a report which stated that more than 39 billion in-school meals were missed due to the closure of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About Ministry of Education
Union Minister – Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ (Haridwar, Uttarakhand)
Minister of State – Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao (Akola, Maharashtra)
