Parliament Question: Mid-day meal under National Education Policy, 2020

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No-522 ANSWERED ON-04/02/2026 Mid-day meal under National Education Policy, 2020 522 # Dr. Bhim Singh: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether National Education Policy, 2020 recommends providing breakfast along with the Mid-day meal; and (b) if so, the steps taken by the Centre and the States for its implementation? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) & (b): National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 in para 2.9 says that… “morning hours after a nutritious breakfast can be particularly productive for the study of cognitively more demanding subjects and hence these hours may be leveraged by providing a simple but energizing breakfast in addition to midday meals. In locations where hot meals are not possible, a simple but nutritious meal, e.g., groundnuts/chana mixed with jaggery and/or local fruits may be provided.” 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 Union Territories (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 providing hot cooked and nutritious meal to the eligible children lies with the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. Education is part of the Concurrent List of the Constitution and most of the Government Schools and School Boards are under the administration of the State Government. Few States like Gujarat and Tamil Nadu provide breakfast along with mid-day meal to children. There is a provision of flexi component to be used by the States/UTs provision of Supplementary Nutrition interventions. Many States/UTs provide additional supplementary nutrition interventions like milk, egg, chikki, fresh fruits, chicken, ragi malt etc. Few States and UTs provide additional items such as milk, egg, fruits etc. to students from their own resources. The States and UTs are encouraged to decide menu suitable to the local conditions within the prescribed nutrition and food norms and to procure locally grown food items like millets, vegetables, condiments etc. *****