Financial outlay of Rs 54,061.73 crore from the Central Government
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the continuation of ‘National Scheme for PM POSHAN in Schools’ for the five year period 2021-22 to 2025-26 with the financial outlay of Rs 54061.73 crores from the Central Government and Rs 31,733.17 crore from State Governments & UT administrations.
Central Government will also bear additional cost of about Rs 45,000 crore on foodgrains. Therefore, the total scheme budget will amount to Rs 1,30,794.90 crore.
The PM POSHAN Scheme is focused on providing one hot cooked meal in Government and Government-aided schools from 2021-22 to 2025-26. This is a Centrally-Sponsored Scheme which covers all school children studying in Classes I-VIII of Government, Government-Aided Schools. The earlier name of the scheme was ‘National Scheme for Mid Day Meal in Schools’ popularly known as Mid Day Meal Scheme.
The scheme covers about 11.80 crore children studying in 11.20 lakh schools across the country. During 2020-21, Government of India invested more than Rs 24,400 crore in the scheme, including cost of about Rs 11,500 crore on foodgrains.