Union Cabinet gives nod to 'PM Poshan' scheme, to spend Rs 1.31 cr in 5 years

New Delhi, Sep 29: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday has given a nod to start 'PM POSHAN in Schools' scheme which will provide 'hot cooked' and fresh meals to students of elementary classes in government and government-aided schools across the country.

In a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union Cabinet took a decision to roll the programme to provide 11.2 lakh government and government-aided schools across the country. "The scheme will run for 5 years and Rs 1.31 lakh crores will be spent," Union Minister Anurag Thakur said.

The existing mid-day meal scheme is being subsumed into the PM Poshan Shakti Nirman scheme and several new components are being added to it, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said after the meeting.

"The CCEA, chaired by Prime Minister, has approved the continuation of 'National Scheme for PM POSHAN in Schools' for the five years, from 2021-22 to 2025-26, with a financial outlay of Rs 54,061.73 crores from the central government and Rs 31,733.17 crore from the state governments and union territory administrations," the government said in a statement.

The centre will be bearing the additional cost of about Rs 45,000 crore on food grains. "Therefore, the total scheme budget will amount to Rs 1,30,794.90 crore," the statement added.

According to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, pre-school children of 1-5 years of age attending 'Bal Vatikas' will be also covered under the PM Poshan Shakti Nirman (POSHAN). "Under this scheme, nutritious food grains cultivated locally can be sourced for the midday meal in schools," he added.

The programme will cover children studying in classes 1-8 of government and government-aided schools. "The scheme will cover about 11.80 crore children studying in 11.20 lakh schools across the country," the statement said. With inputs from PTI