Nod to revamped mid-day meal scheme with ~1.3-trn outlay
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a revamped and expanded version of the mid-day meal scheme called the National Scheme for Prime Minister Poshan (nutrition) with an allocation of ~130,794.90 crore for five years, starting from 2021-22. The Centre’s share in this will be nearly ~1 trillion.
Of this ~1 trillion, around ~45,000 crore will be spent on providing subsidised foodgrains from the food ministry over the years. This leaves ~55,000 crore purely for the scheme, which is ~11,000 crore per year.
Civil society activists alleged that the Centre in the last seven years has cut the budget for the scheme by almost 38 per cent in real terms. A major highlight of the scheme, according to an official statement, is that coverage will now extend to students studying in pre-primary, or Bal Vatikas, and government-aided primary schools in addition to all the 118 million children from elementary classes studying in over 1.12 million government schools.
That apart, under the revamped scheme, a concept of 'tithi-bhojan' will be introduced. This is a community participation programme in which people provide special food to children on special occasions or festivals.
Social audit of the scheme has been made mandatory in all districts, while special provision has been made for providing supplementary nutrition items to children in aspirational districts and districts with high prevalence of anemia.
In 2020-21, the Centre spent more than ~24,400 crore on the mid-day meal scheme, which included a cost of about ~11,500 crores on foodgrains.