Agartala, Aug 03, 2022, Dr. SOMNATH BHOWMICK
Agartala Aug 03: Mid Day Meal Scheme was started in India on August 15 1995 under the name of ‘National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE)’. In October 2007, NP-NSPE was renamed as the ‘National Programme of Mid-Day Meal in Schools,’ which is popularly known as the Mid-Day Meal Scheme. Till 2002, the scheme was only designed for government, government-aided and local body schools. Later, children studying in Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and Alternative & Innovative Education (AIE) centres too were included under the scheme.
In September 2021, the Mid-Day Meal Scheme was renamed ‘PM POSHAN’ or Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman. PM POSHAN has extended the facility of getting the hot cooked meals to students studying in pre-primary levels or Bal Vatikas of government and government-aided primary schools, in addition to those already covered under the mid-day scheme. The revamped scheme is being implemented for 5 years, from 2021-22 to 2025-26, with a budget of Rs 1,30,794.90 crore.
The government hopes it will benefit 11.80 crore children studying in 11.20 lakh schools across India. The PM –POSHAN is a centrally sponsored Flagship Programme which has been implemented in all States/UTs across the country for providing nutritional support to children of the elementary stage.
In order to execute the National Educational Policy, this is the first time that the Tripura State Government introduced morning nutrition/breakfast in schools for the children of Pre Primary as well as Elementary levels under Dhalai district from August 1, 2022. It is to be noted that Morning Breakfast is being distributed to 43835 children out of 51754 children which covers near about 85% of children of 822 schools of Dhalai District (State - 261and TTAADC-561 schools). The menu includes 1 boiled egg each on Monday and Friday, 2 pieces of Banana on Tuesday and Thursday, seasonal fruit or 150 ml milk on Wednesday and Saturday.
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5, India has unacceptably high levels of stunting, despite marginal improvement over the years. In 2019-21, 35.5% of children below five years were stunted and 32.1% were underweight. According to the Global Nutrition Report (GNR, 2021), India has made no progress on anaemia and childhood wasting. Over 17% of Indian children below 5 years of age are affected due to childhood wasting.
At this point the PM-POSHAN Scheme will not only improve the nutritional status of eligible children at the same time it will also encourage the poor children, belonging to disadvantaged sections, to attend school more regularly and help them concentrate on classroom activities.