Lok Sabha Question No. 140 (STARRED), answered on 2023-02-10
Subject: PM POSHAN Scheme in Delhi
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Parvesh Sahib Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *140

TO BE ANSWERED ON 10.02.2023

## 'PM POSHAN SCHEME IN DELHI'

- *140    SHRI PARVESH SAHIB SINGH VERMA:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  been  able  to  achieve  the  objectives  of  PM POSHAN in Delhi, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (b) the number of Anganwadi Centres in Delhi wherein PM POSHAN scheme is being implemented; and
- (c) whether the Ministry has conducted any study on the results of this scheme in Delhi, if so, the details and outcome thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) to (c) A statement is laid on the table of the house

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## Statement Referred to in Reply to Part (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No.140  to  be  Answered  on  10.02.2023  asked  by  SHRI  PARVESH  SAHIB  SINGH VERMA regarding 'PM POSHAN SCHEME IN DELHI'

(a)  to (c) The Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN), under Department of  School  Education  and  Literacy,  Ministry  of  Education,  is  one  of  the  foremost  rights based Centrally Sponsored Schemes under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA). The  Scheme  is  implemented  across  the  country  covering  about  12.21  crore  children studying  in  Bal  Vatika  and  Classes  I-VIII  in  10.84  lakh  Government  and  GovernmentAided schools. The objectives of the Scheme are to address two of the pressing problems for majority of children in India,  viz. hunger and education by improving the nutritional status of eligible children in Government and Government aided schools  and  encouraging poor children, belonging to disadvantaged sections, to attend school  more  regularly  and  help  them  concentrate  on  classroom  activities  as  well  as providing nutritional support to children of elementary stage in drought / disaster affected areas during summer vacation.

NITI AAYOG has conducted an evaluation of the Scheme through an independent thirdparty  agency  in  2019-20.    An  evaluation  under  the  leadership  of  National  Institute  of Nutrition (NIN) was also conducted in 2017-18.  The major findings of both the studies are as under:

-  Nutritional  level  among  students  availing  mid-day  meal  in  schools  is  reported to   have  improved  as  attributed  by  Comprehensive  National  Nutrition  Survey (2016-2018)
-  92% of the students attending schools were availing mid-day meal
-  More  than  80%   parents  stated  mid  day  meal  increased  the  enrolment  & attendance, improved nutritional and health status of their children
-  96% teachers mentioned that mid day meal improved the nutritional  status of the school children
-  92%  teachers  stated  that  mid  day  meal  increased  enrolment  &  improved attendance

Further,  as  per  the  information  received  from  UT  of  Delhi,  PM  POSHAN  Scheme  is implemented in Delhi through Directorate of Education, GNCT of Delhi being nodal agency and provides hot cooked Meal to all eligible children. There are three other agencies which are providing cooked meal in their schools. i.e. Municipal Cooperation of Delhi, New Delhi Municipal  Council  and  Delhi  Cantonment  Board.  As  per  the  records,  the  number  of children covered under PM POSHAN Scheme are as under:-

|   1. | Bal Vatika     |   120637 |
|------|----------------|----------|
|    2 | Primary        |  1021263 |
|    3 | Upper-primary. |   787414 |

PM POSHAN is implemented in schools through Department of School Education and Literacy  and  not  in  Anganwadi  Centres.  A  total  of  10,899  Anganwadi  centres  are operational in Delhi. The Anganwadi Services under Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 is a universal self-selecting Scheme available to all the beneficiaries who enroll at the Anganwadi Centres. The beneficiaries under this scheme are children in the age group of 0-6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers.  A package of six services is provided to all registered beneficiaries, namely, (i) Supplementary Nutrition; (ii) Pre-school Nonformal Education; (iii) Nutrition & Health Education; (iv) Immunization; (v) Health Checkup; and (vi) Referral Services.

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