Lok Sabha Question No. 90 (STARRED), answered on 2024-07-29
Subject: Central Share in PM POSHAN Scheme in Kerala
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri N K Premachandran

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO-*90

ANSWERED ON - 29/07/2024

## Central Share in PM POSHAN Scheme in Kerala

## * 90 Shri N K Premachandran :

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to continue the Mid Day Meal/PM-POSHAN Scheme, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Government  conducted  any  study  regarding  the  difficulties  faced  by  the school  authorities  to  implement  the  scheme  by  using  the  meagre  share  of  Union Government, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  increase  the  share  of  Union  Government  in  the scheme, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the State Government of Kerala is facing acute shortage of funds to implement the Scheme,  if  so,  the  details  thereof  including  the  action  taken  by  the  Government  to overcome the financial crisis;
- (e) whether  the  Government  disbursed  the  central  share  for  the  scheme  to  the  State Government of Kerala without arrears; and
- (f) if so, the details of amount disbursed to Kerala till date ?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF EDUCATION (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

- (a) to (f): A statement is laid on the table of the House.

## Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (f) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No.  *90  for  29.07.2024  raised  by  Shri  N  K  Premachandran,  Hon'ble  MP regarding Central Share in PM POSHAN Scheme in Kerala.

(a) to (c): Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) is one of the foremost rights based Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented in partnership with the States and UTs. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the continuation of PM POSHAN Scheme in schools for the five-year period from 2021-22 to 2025-26. The overall  responsibility  for  smooth  functioning  of  the  scheme  including  providing  hot cooked and nutritious meal to the eligible children lies with the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations.

About  11.63  crore students studying  in  more  than  10.67  lakh  Government    and Government-aided  schools  are  covered  under  the  PM  POSHAN  Scheme.  The  budget allocation for 2024-25 is Rs. 12467.39 crore and 25.33 lakh MT Foodgrains is allocated to States & UTs for the FY. Central Government also bears the subsidy of about Rs 9000 crore towards provision of foodgrains through Dept. of Food & Public Distribution.

The Central  Government provides 100% assistance for the following components under the scheme:

- i) Cost of Foodgrains,
2. ii) Transportation Assistance,
3. iii) Management, Monitoring & Evaluation (MME)

The  cost  sharing  ratio  under  the  scheme  between  the  Centre  and  States/UTs  as  per  the approved funding pattern is

- 100% for Union Territories without Legislature
- 90:10 for North Eastern Region (NER) States and 2 Himalayan States and UT of J&K,
- 60:40 for other States as well as 2 Union Territories with Legislature (Delhi and Puducherry).

The above funding pattern is for the following components:

- i) Material cost
2. ii) Honorarium to cook-cum-helpers

(d)  to  (f):  The  State  Government  of  Kerala  has  reported  that  there  is  no  crisis  in implementation  of  PM  POSHAN  Scheme  due  to  shortage  of  funds  and  no  amount  is pending to be received from Central Government till 2023-24. As on 21.07.2024, as per SNA 01 Report, State Government of Kerala has a bank balance of Rs. 26.31 crore. For the FY 2024-25, Rs. 34.33 crore was available as unspent balance as on 01.04.2024 and 1 st instalment  of  Rs  48.47  crore  has  been  released  on  24.07.2024.  Under  the  Scheme,  the Central Assistance released to State Government of Kerala from 2014-15 to 2024-25 (till date) is as under:

|   S. No. | Financial Year   | Central Assistance Released (Rs. in crore)   |
|----------|------------------|----------------------------------------------|
|        1 | 2014-15          | 225.75                                       |
|        2 | 2015-16          | 171.21                                       |
|        3 | 2016-17          | 177.81                                       |
|        4 | 2017-18          | 329.78                                       |
|        5 | 2018-19          | 198.57                                       |
|        6 | 2019-20          | 199.62                                       |
|        7 | 2020-21          | 276.89                                       |
|        8 | 2021-22          | 184.82                                       |
|        9 | 2022-23          | 425.44                                       |
|       10 | 2023-24          | 249.01                                       |
|       11 | 2024-25          | 48.47 (First installment )                   |

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