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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 5767
ANSWERED ON- 30.03.2026
Assessment of Implementation of PM-POSHAN Scheme
5767. Shri Bhaskar Murlidhar Bhagare:
Dr. Amol Ramsing Kolhe:
Shri Sanjay Dina Patil:
Smt. Supriya Sule:
Shri Mohite Patil Dhairyasheel Rajsinh:
Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad:
Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has conducted any State or district-wise assessment of the
implementation of the PM-POSHAN scheme in Maharashtra during the last three years and if so,
the details of schools covered, number of beneficiaries along with the funds released and utilised,
district-wise;
(b) whether the Government has examined the gap between enrolment and actual meal
uptake in Government schools under the said scheme in Maharashtra and the reasons for
absenteeism or irregular meal consumption among children;
(c) whether shortages of cooks, helpers and delayed honorarium payments to kitchen staff
have been reported in the said State and the steps taken by the Government to address these
issues;
(d) whether the Government proposes to introduce locally sourced millets, eggs or region-
specific nutritious food items in school meals in Maharashtra to improve nutritional outcomes and
if so, the details thereof; and
(e) the details of the measures taken by the Government to strengthen social audits, food
safety inspections and grievance redressal mechanisms under the said scheme in the State?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
(SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)
(a) to (e): Education is a subject in the Concurrent List of the Constitution of India and the majority
of schools are under the administrative control of the respective State Government/Union Territory
(UT) administration. The Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme is one of
the foremost rights based Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented in partnership with the States
and UTs for providing one hot cooked and nutritious meal to all children studying in Bal Vatika(just before class-I) and classes I to VIII of Government and Government-aided schools. The
Scheme covers about 11 crore children in more than 10.35 lakh schools in all the States/UTs.
As per the extant guidelines of the PM Poshan Scheme, States/UTs are required to conduct
social audit in all districts in at least 20 schools or 2% of the schools, whichever is higher for each
district. The responsibility for taking action and ensuring compliance on the social audit findings
rests with the States/ UTs. State Government of Maharashtra has reported that it had conducted
social audits in 2% of total schools in the year 2021-22, 2022-23 and 5% of total schools in 2024-
25. State has not conducted social audit in the year 2023-24 due to technical and administrative
reasons. The number of schools covered under social audit is as follows:
Number of schools covered under Social Audit
2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25
2523 1802 0 4278
The district-wise number of children enrolled, fund released and utilized under the Scheme
as reported by the State Government of Maharashtra is at Annexure.
The overall responsibility for smooth functioning of the Scheme including providing hot
cooked and nutritious meal to the eligible children as well as engagement of Cook-cum-Helpers
(CCHs) lies with the States/UTs. State Government of Maharashtra has reported that due to seasonal
migration and domestic responsibilities, there is a gap between the total number of children enrolled
and children taking mid-day meal. Further, the State has also reported that there is no shortage of
CCHs nor any delay in payment of honorarium.
There is a provision of 5% of total recurring budget as the flexi component to be used by the
States/UTs for setting up of School Nutrition Gardens (SNGs) and provision of supplementary
nutrition interventions in identified districts. Many States/UTs provide additional supplementary
nutrition interventions like egg, milk, chikki, fresh fruits, chicken, ragi malt etc. Further, it has been
reported that millet nutritive bars are provided in 15 tribal districts (Aspirational) and eggs & banana
in all the districts of Maharashtra.
The Government of India has issued detailed guidelines on quality, safety and hygiene to
ensure serving of good quality nutritious meal under the Scheme. All the States/ UTs are advised
to adhere to these guidelines. These guidelines are available on official
website https://pmposhan.education.gov.in. These guidelines, inter-alia, provides for instructions to
schools to procure Agmark quality and branded items for preparation of meals, training to CCHs,
tasting of meals by members of School Management Committee including at least one teacher
before serving the hot meal to children. Further, it provides for testing of food samples by the
Government Food Research Laboratory or any laboratory accredited or recognized by law to ensure
that the meals meet nutritional standards and quality. The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is given
responsibility for making available food grains of best available quality, meeting the parameters of
Fair Average Quality (FAQ). The guidelines, inter-alia, provides for training of CCHs on nutrition,
cooking processes, health and hygiene, preparation of raw grains and vegetables, recipes, serving
skills etc. States/ UTs provide training to CCHs in collaboration with the Institutes of Hotel
Management, Food Craft Institutes, FSSAI, State Universities etc.
*****ANNEXURE
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (E) OF LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5767 FOR 30.03.2026 RAISED BY SHRI BHASKAR
MURLIDHAR BHAGARE, DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE, SHRI SANJAY DINA PATIL,
SMT. SUPRIYA SULE, SHRI MOHITE PATIL DHAIRYASHEEL RAJSINH AND PROF.
VARSHA EKNATH GAIKWAD, HON’BLE MPs REGARDING ASSESSMENT OF
IMPLEMENTATION OF PM-POSHAN SCHEME.
Children enrolled and Fund Utilised under the PM POSHAN Scheme in Maharashtra
Sr. District Name 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 (upto feb 2026)
No Children Fund Utilised Children Fund Utilised Children Fund Utilised
enrolled (Rs in lakh) enrolled (Rs in lakh) enrolled (Rs in lakh)
1 Ahmadnagar 479301 7557.42 470731 7829.02 446650 7246.09
2 Akola 154919 2557.28 146349 2824.16 161595 1994.14
3 Amravati 244859 3819.97 236289 3932.11 278975 2967.48
4 Aurangabad 467505 7011.40 458935 7262.70 465892 4641.69
5 Bhandara 349156 5666.93 340586 5634.80 323716 5610.98
6 Bid 107236 1894.14 98666 1761.00 103615 1757.04
7 Buldana 272583 4565.99 264013 4348.61 250787 3555.44
8 Chandrapur 172831 2752.38 164261 2990.94 158342 2119.66
9 Dhule 257337 3454.42 248767 4007.46 234397 3540.58
10 Gadchiroli 94688 1831.52 86118 1901.52 90475 1314.00
11 Gondiya 111469 1930.62 102899 2128.38 108043 2161.75
12 Hingoli 144998 2046.74 136428 1266.43 126253 2499.69
13 Jalgaon 466361 6382.92 457791 7039.94 454078 6966.42
14 Jalna 239918 3728.68 231348 4288.52 209950 2799.12
15 Kolhapur 373295 6213.22 364725 5413.67 355263 5508.58
16 Latur 290496 4086.51 281926 4637.44 280579 3306.60
17 Mumbai 571020 9975.20 562450 5946.50 533267 7244.75
18 Nagpur 308279 5170.56 299709 4638.20 286574 3413.64
19 Nanded 406038 5352.50 397468 5530.70 384461 4675.55
20 Nandurbar 183832 2888.41 175262 3059.49 178190 4240.43
21 Nashik 667565 9226.79 658995 11329.00 647759 9528.88
22 Osmanabad 178274 2956.48 169704 3008.60 177847 2702.75
23 Palghar 239500 3801.23 230930 3810.25 240574 3790.93
24 Parbhani 239709 3127.94 231139 4072.63 223488 3525.83
25 Pune 740808 11822.47 732238 10649.11 738154 7425.08
26 Raigarh 184094 3404.10 175524 3161.00 177034 2770.43
27 Ratnagiri 119750 2700.78 111180 1908.05 106500 2277.79
28 Sangli 267965 4943.24 259395 4836.35 267269 4168.86
29 Satara 255509 4396.68 246939 4780.26 242140 2652.55
30 Sindhudurg 55726 984.94 47156 1338.67 53687 1111.84
31 Solapur 494962 8008.73 486392 7491.49 468757 4163.95
32 Thane 462261 6485.87 453691 5497.01 433619 5759.50
33 Wardha 91626 1252.98 83056 1792.14 81395 1352.11
34 Washim 136961 2371.96 128391 1933.73 112205 1131.67
35 Yavatmal 269347 4536.53 260777 4636.19 250070 3586.28
Total 10100178 158907.52 9800228 156686.08 9651600 133512.08