Parliament Question: Children Covered under PM POSHAN Scheme in Andhra Pradesh

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCA TION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO- 4936 ANSWERED ON- 23.03.2026 Children Covered under PM POSHAN Scheme in Andhra Pradesh

4936. Shri P V Midhun Reddy:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) the number of children covered under the PM POSHAN Scheme in Andhra Pradesh, district- wise;

(b) the details of availability of cook-cum-helpers, kitchen sheds and infrastructure in Government schools of the said State;

(c) the details of food safety, nutrition quality and monitoring mechanisms in place; and

(d) the details of special interventions for tribal, aspirational districts and remote areas of the said State? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (d): 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. 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. 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.

The district-wise number of children enrolled under the PM POSHAN Scheme as reported by State Government of Andhra Pradesh is at Annexure-I. Further, the State has also reported the details of CCHs, kitchen sheds and infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh which is at Annexure-II.

The Government of India has issued detailed guidelines to improve the implementation of the scheme to all the States/UTs. These guidelines are available on official website

https://pmposhan.education.gov.in . These guidelines, inter-alia, provide for instructions to schools to procure Agmark quality and branded items for preparation of meals, training to CCHs, tasting ofmeals by members of School Management Committee including at least one teacher before serving the hot meal to children. The guidelines, inter-alia, provide for training of CCHs on nutrition, cooking processes, health and hygiene, preparation of raw grains and vegetables, recipes, serving skills etc.

States/UTs are providing training to CCHs in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India through their Institutes of Hotel Management and Food Craft Institutes, FSSAI, State Agricultural Universities etc. States/ UTs are directed to conduct cooking competitions among CCHs to encourage them to cook varied and nutritious meals. Many States/ UTs are conducting the competitions and also giving cash prizes to the winners.

The scheme also provides elaborate monitoring mechanism i.e. Empowered Committee under the Chairpersonship of the Hon’ble Union Education Minister, Programme Approval Board (PAB) under the Chairpersonship of the Secretary (DoSE&L), State Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee under the Chairpersonship of the Chief Secretary, District level Steering-cum- Monitoring Committee under the Chairpersonship of the District Collector. The PM Poshan Guidelines provides a District Level Committee under the Chairmanship of senior most Member of Parliament (MP) of the district to monitor the scheme on quarterly basis.

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.

*****ANNEXURE-I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (D) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4936 FOR 23.03.2026 RAISED BY SHRI P V MIDHUN REDDY, HON’BLE MP REGARDING CHILDREN COVERED UNDER PM POSHAN SCHEME IN ANDHRA PRADESH.

Number of children covered under the PM POSHAN Scheme S. Districts No. of Children No.

1 Srikakulam 106750 2 Manyam 49860 3 Vizianagaram 75937 4 Visakhapatnam 48865 5 ASR 92123 6 Anakapalli 61482 7 Kakinada 85599 8 East Godavari 63242 9 Konaseema 62376 10 Eluru 78833 11 West Godavari 62285 12 Krishna 59428 13 NTR 60425 14 Guntur 67009 15 Palnadu 98963 16 Bapatla 60651 17 Prakasam 126864 18 SPSR Nellore 119033 19 Tirupati 99262 20 Chittoor 103794 21 Annamayya 90901 22 YSR Kadapa 93252 23 Sri Satyasai 90583 24 Ananthapuram 141347 25 Kurnool 197380 26 Nandyal 96091 Total 2292335ANNEXURE-II ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (A) TO (D) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4936 FOR 23.03.2026 RAISED BY SHRI P V MIDHUN REDDY, HON’BLE MP REGARDING CHILDREN COVERED UNDER PM POSHAN SCHEME IN ANDHRA PRADESH.

Details of CCHs, Kitchen Sheds and Infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh Total No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of Schools CC Hs Schools with class Toilets Schools Schools Schools Kitchen rooms with with with Sheds drinking furniture electricity water facility facility 43218 79948 32484 171804 124147 43101 43101 43101