The Ministry of Education has issued a notice advising states to cut cooking oil usage by 10 per cent in school meals under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) scheme. 

It urges education departments, school authorities and other stakeholders to raise awareness among students about the benefits of reducing oil consumption and adopt healthier cooking methods such as grilling, steaming, or baking instead of deep-frying.

The move aims to promote healthier eating habits among students.

PM POSHAN Scheme

• Mid-day meals in schools have had a long history in India. In 1925, a mid-day meal programme was introduced for disadvantaged children in Madras Municipal Corporation. By mid-1980s, Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the UT of Pondicherry had universalised a mid-day meal programme with their own resources for children studying at the primary stage.

• By 1990-91, as many as 12 states were implementing the mid-day meal programme with their own resources.

• With a view to enhancing enrollment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improving nutritional levels among children, the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) was launched as a centrally sponsored scheme on August 15, 1995. 

• In 2008-09, the scheme was extended to cover children of upper primary classes and the scheme was renamed as ‘National Programme of Mid-Day Meal in Schools’. 

• In September 2021, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved continuation of Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) in schools for the five-year period 2021-22 to 2025-26 with a financial outlay of Rs 54,061.73 crore from the central government and Rs 31,733.17 crore from state governments and UT administrations. 

• PM POSHAN scheme covers all school children studying in Bal Vatika (before class I) and I-VIII classes in government and government-aided schools.

• During the year 2023-24, 11.67 crore children studying in classes Bal Vatika and I-VIII in 10.67 lakh eligible schools in the country were covered under the scheme.

Objectives of the Scheme

To address two of the pressing problems for majority of children in India —  hunger and education by:

i) Improving the nutritional status of children studying in classes I–VIII in government and government-aided schools and in Bal Vatika in government primary schools.

ii) Encouraging poor children, belonging to disadvantaged sections, to attend school more regularly and help them concentrate on classroom activities.

iii) Providing nutritional support to children of elementary stage in drought-affected areas during summer vacation.

Benefits of the scheme:

1) Preventing classroom hunger: Many children belonging to disadvantaged sections of society reach school with an empty stomach. Even children, who have a meal before they leave for school, get hungry by the afternoon and are not able to concentrate. PM POSHAN Scheme can help children from families which cannot afford a lunch box or are staying far away from schools, to overcome “classroom hunger”.

2) Promoting school participation: PM POSHAN scheme has a significant effect on school participation, not just in terms of getting more children enrolled in the registers but also in terms of regular pupil attendance on a daily basis.

3) Facilitating healthy growth of children: PM POSHAN Scheme can also act as a regular source of “supplementary nutrition” for children to facilitate their healthy growth. 

4) Intrinsic educational value: The scheme can be used as an opportunity to impart various good habits to children (such as washing one’s hands before and after eating) and to educate them about the importance of clean water, good hygiene and other related matters.

5) Fostering social equality: PM POSHAN scheme can help spread egalitarian values, as children from various social backgrounds learn to sit together and share a common meal. In particular, PM POSHAN scheme can help to break the barriers of caste and class among school children. Engaging cooks from SC/ST communities is another way of teaching children to overcome caste prejudices.

6) Enhancing gender equity: The gender gap in school participation tends to narrow, as PM POSHAN scheme helps erode the barriers that prevent girls from going to school. The scheme also provides a useful source of employment for women and helps liberate working women from the burden of cooking at home during the day. In these and other ways, women and girl children have a special stake in PM POSHAN scheme.

7) Psychological benefits: Physiological deprivation leads to low self-esteem, consequent insecurity, anxiety and stress. The scheme can help address these and facilitate cognitive, emotional and social development.

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