**Executive Summary**
The document is a response to unstarred question number 46 in Lok Sabha, answered on December 1, 2025, concerning the PM POSHAN Scheme. It provides details on the scheme's implementation, impact assessment, and measures to improve the program in rural and disadvantaged areas, with a specific focus on Tamil Nadu. The information provided pertains to activities, funding, and guidelines for the fiscal year 2025-26.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Scheme Overview:**
* PM POSHAN Scheme provides hot cooked and nutritious meals to children in Bal Vatika and Classes I-VIII in Government and Government-aided schools.
* It covers approximately 11 crore children in over 10.35 lakh schools across States/UTs.
* **Financial Allocation (FY 2025-26):**
* Budget allocation of Rs. 12,500 crore by the Government of India.
* States/UTs share is around Rs. 8,500 crore (includes funds for cook-cum-helpers and supplementary nutrition).
* Foodgrain allocation by the Government of India is 24.15 lakh MTs (approx. Rs. 9000 crore).
* Overall allocation for the PM POSHAN Scheme is more than Rs. 30,000 crore (with Rs. 21,500 crore made by the GOI).
* **Tamil Nadu Implementation:**
* Evaluation study conducted by the Government of Tamil Nadu (through the Department of Evaluation and Applied Research), leading to menu revisions. NITI Aayog also assessed the Scheme.
* School Nutrition Gardens (SNGs) established to promote gardening and healthy eating habits: 413 in Kanchipuram, 1399 in Tiruvannamalai. Social audits conducted in 20 and 41 schools in the respective districts.
* **'Vocal for Local' Initiative:**
* States/UTs encouraged to use locally grown food items within prescribed nutrition norms.
* Tamil Nadu allows District Collectors to select and include iron-rich vegetables (drumstick, moringa, spinach, etc.).
* **Meal Quality and Monitoring:**
* Detailed guidelines issued for implementation, accessible on the official website (https://pmposhan.education.gov.in).
* Procurement of Agmark quality and branded items, training for cook-cum-helpers, meal tasting by School Management Committee (SMC) members (including at least one teacher).
* Testing of food samples by Government Food Research Laboratory or accredited laboratories.
* The Food Corporation of India (FCI) ensures the availability of best-quality food grains.
* Mandatory inspections by State officials to ensure effective implementation, quality, and hygiene. States/UTs have specific monitoring mechanisms.
* Guidelines for Kitchen-cum-Stores (KCS) construction/repair with funds released based on proposals.
* **Monitoring Mechanisms:**
* Empowered Committee (Union Education Minister), Programme Approval Board (PAB), State Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee, and District-level Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee.
* District Level Committee chaired by the senior-most Member of Parliament (MP) to monitor the scheme quarterly.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: Children Participating in the PM Poshan Scheme**
* **Impact:** Receive hot, cooked, and nutritious meals, promoting better nutrition and potentially improved attendance and enrolment.
* **Action Required:** None explicitly stated for children.
**Stakeholder: State Governments and UT Administrations**
* **Impact:** Responsible for the overall provision of hot cooked and nutritious meals to eligible children. Implementation and monitoring of the scheme fall under their jurisdiction.
* **Action Required:** Implement detailed guidelines, procure food items, conduct inspections, and establish monitoring mechanisms.
**Stakeholder: School Management Committees (SMC)**
* **Impact:** They must taste the prepared meals before serving them to the children.
* **Action Required:** Must have at least one teacher available to participate in tasting and assessing the quality of the prepared meals.
**Stakeholder: District Collectors (Tamil Nadu)**
* **Impact:** Given authority to select and include locally available iron-rich vegetables.
* **Action Required:** To exercise authority, select and include locally available iron-rich vegetables into the meal plans.
**Stakeholder: Food Corporation of India (FCI)**
* **Impact:** Responsible for ensuring food grains are of the best quality available.
* **Action Required:** Making food grains available which meet quality parameters.
**Stakeholder: State Officials**
* **Impact:** Ensuring effective scheme implementation, quality, and hygiene.
* **Action Required:** Conduct inspections.
**Stakeholder: Members of Parliament (MP)**
* **Impact:** Monitor the PM Poshan Scheme within their districts on a quarterly basis.
* **Action Required:** Monitor the scheme on a quarterly basis.
Key Entities Referenced
PM POSHAN Scheme: Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme, a centrally sponsored scheme providing hot cooked meals to children in government and government-aided schools.
Ministry of Education: The central ministry responsible for the implementation of the PM POSHAN Scheme.
Tamil Nadu: The state where the PM POSHAN Scheme's impact is being evaluated.
NITI Aayog: Institution that also conducted assessment of the PM POSHAN Scheme.
Kanchipuram: District in Tamil Nadu mentioned in the question regarding the PM POSHAN Scheme.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-46
ANSWERED ON- 01/12/2025
Students Covered under PM POSHAN Scheme
46. Shri Selvam G:
Shri C N Annadurai:
Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:
(a) the number of Government and Government-aided schools and total number of students
covered under the PM POSHAN Scheme in the districts of Kanchipuram and Tiruvannamalai
in Tamil Nadu;
(b) whether the Government has conducted any evaluation to assess the impact of the PM
POSHAN Scheme on attendance, enrolment and nutritional status of children in said districts
and if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether School Nutrition Gardens have been established and social audits conducted in
all schools under the scheme in these districts, if so, the details thereof;
(d) the details of steps taken to ensure the use of locally grown and nutritious food items
under the ‘Vocal for Local’ initiative in Kanchipuram; and
(e) the measures taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to improve meal quality,
infrastructure and monitoring under the PM POSHAN Scheme in rural and disadvantaged
areas of these districts?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
(SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)
(a): 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
(UT) Administrations. For FY 2025-26, budget allocation for the PM Poshan Scheme is Rs.
12,500 crore by Government of India and the State/ UT share as per the sharing pattern is
around Rs. 8,500 crore including additional funds for Honorarium to Cook-cum-Helpers and
Supplementary Nutrition items. The foodgrain allocation by Government of India is 24.15 lakh
MTs which costs around Rs. 9000 crore. Thus overall allocation for the PM Poshan Schemefor FY 2025-26 is more than Rs. 30,000 crore including more than Rs. 21,500 crore made by
Government of India.
The number of Government and Government-aided schools and total number of
students covered under the PM POSHAN Scheme are:
District Government Schools Government-Aided Total Students
Schools
Kanchipuram 586 79 51,556
Tiruvannamalai 1960 178 1,46,446
(b): Government of Tamil Nadu informed that they have conducted an Evaluation study
through Department of Evaluation and Applied Research, Tamil Nadu and based on the
recommendations of the evaluation the menu was revised. Government of India through NITI
Aayog has also conducted assessment of the Scheme.
(c) & (d): To give firsthand experience with nature, gardening and to inculcate the habit
of eat right among the students School Nutrition Gardens (SNGs) have been set up under the
Scheme. In Kanchipuram district 413 school kitchen garden and in Tiruvannamalai district
1399 kitchen garden have been established. Social Audit was conducted in 20 schools of
Kanchipuram and 41 schools of Tiruvannamalai districts.
In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the scheme, Government
approved several initiatives including ‘Vocal for Local’ under which 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.
from Farmers’ Producers Organizations, Federation of Women’s Self-Help Groups etc. so as
to promote local employment generation and economic development while simultaneously
improving the nutrition standards. Government of Tamil Nadu has informed that District
Collectors have the authority to select and include locally available iron-rich vegetables such
as drumstick, moringa leaves, spinach and other green leafy vegetables, alongside the fixed
menu.
(e): 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, provides for instructions to
schools to procure Agmark quality and branded items for preparation of meals, training to
Cook-cum-Helpers, tasting of meals by members of School Management Committee (SMC)
including at least one teacher before serving the hot meal to children. Further, it provides for
testing of food samples by 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). Under the PM
POSHAN Scheme, inspection by State officials is mandatory to ensure effective
implementation, quality, and hygiene. States and UTs have established specific monitoring
mechanisms.The Scheme guidelines provides for construction and repair of Kitchen-cum-Stores
(KCS). Funds for construction and repair of KCS are released to States/ UTs based on the
proposal received from the State Governments and UTs.
The scheme also provides elaborate monitoring mechanism i.e. Empowered Committee
under the Chairpersonship of Hon’ble Union Education Minister, Programme Approval Board
(PAB) under the Chairpersonship of Secretary (DoSE&L), State Steering-cum-Monitoring
Committee under the Chairpersonship of Chief Secretary, District level Steering-cum-
Monitoring Committee under the Chairpersonship of 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.
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