On December 9 2024, the Ministry of Education (MoE) has enhanced the “Material Cost” of pulses, vegetables and oil by 13.70% covered under the Pradhan Mantri POshan SHakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme. The decision was taken on the basis of an inflation index provided by the Chandigarh-based Labour Bureau under the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoL&E).
- As per the MoE directions, the material cost is increased from Rs 5.45 to Rs.6.19 for primary and Bal Vatika classes and for upper primary classes, it is enhanced from Rs 8.17 to Rs 9.29, with effect from December 01, 2024.
- These enhanced rates will be applicable to all states and Union Territories (UTs) of the country.
Points to Note:
i.The Labour Bureau provides data on inflation of items covered under PM POSHAN basket on the basis of Consumer Price Index-Rural Labourers (CPI-RL) which is in line with the CPI index for PM POSHAN and accordingly CPI index for PM POSHAN basket has been worked out.
ii.The CPI-RL is determined by collecting continuous monthly prices from the sample of 600 villages spread over 20 states of the country.
Key Points:
i.The material cost could not be revised during the Financial Year 2023-24 (FY24). So, the inflation rates of items under the PM POSHAN basket for both FY23 (6.45%) and FY24 (6.74%) has been considered while determining the enhancement cost.
ii.The Government of India (GoI) will bear the additional financial burden of Rs 425.62 crore in the current financial year (FY25) due to the enhancement of material cost.
iii.The GoI provides about 26 lakh Metric Tonne (MT) foodgrains through the Food Corporation of India (FCI). It also bears the entire cost of foodgrains including subsidy of nearly Rs 9,000 crore annually and transportation cost.
About PM POSHAN Scheme:
i.PM POSHAN Scheme is a centrally sponsored scheme under the National Food Security Act, 2013(NFSA).The primary objective of the scheme is to provide nutritional support and enhance school participation of students.
ii.In September 2021, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi had approved the renaming of scheme “National Scheme for Mid-Day Meal in Schools” to PM POSHAN and extended the scheme from FY21 to FY26.
iii.Under the scheme, one hot cooked meal is provided to 11.70 crore students studying in Balvatika and classes I to VIII, in 10.24 lakh Government and Government-aided schools during the all school-days.
iv.As per the scheme, each student studying in Balvatika and primary class is eligible for 20 grams (gms) of pulses, 50 gms of vegetables and 5 gms of oil.
- Similarly, each student studying in upper primary class is eligible for 30 gms of pulses, 50 gms of vegetables and 7 gms of oil.
- The per meal cost including cost of all components under the scheme comes to nearly Rs 11.54 for Bal Vatika and primary classes and Rs 16.74 for upper primary classes.
About Ministry of Education (MoE):
Union Minister- Dharmendra Pradhan (Constituency- Sambalpur, Odisha)
Minister of State (MoS)– Jayant Chaudhary (Rajya Sabha- Uttar Pradesh, UP); Dr. Sukanta Majumdar (Constituency- Balurghat, West Bengal,WB)
