ARINDAM GANGULY, OP
Bhubaneswar: The School and Mass Education Department of Odisha has constituted a committee to examine the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman Yojana (PM POSHAN), aiming to improve its implementation and address students’ nutritional needs. The notification, issued Thursday, named the state nodal officer as chairperson, with members including representatives from the National Institute of Nutrition in Hyderabad, the World Food Programme, the Health and Family Welfare (H&FW) department, and the Director of Secondary Education, Odisha.
The committee’s role is to evaluate the provisions for the nutritional requirements of students enrolled in the PM POSHAN scheme and to propose enhancements for more effective implementation.
Earlier this year, the state government raised the midday meal (MDM) value under PM POSHAN by Rs 1 to promote better nutrition and increase school attendance. The increase brought the daily meal cost for primary students to Rs 6.90 and for upper primary students to Rs 9.82, up from Rs 5.90 and Rs 8.82, respectively. The last revision was in October 2022. The revised meal costs are expected to benefit approximately 43 lakh students attending government and government-aided schools across the state.
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Currently, over 45 lakh students are provided cooked meals in 50,485 primary and upper primary schools in Odisha, according to the PM POSHAN database. The meals served include rice with ‘dalma’ Mondays and Thursdays, soya bean curry Tuesdays and Fridays, and egg curry Wednesdays and Saturdays.