Lok Sabha Question No. 3753 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-16
Subject: Children Covered under Mid-Day Meal Scheme
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Malaiyarasan D

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO3753

ANSWERED ON- 16.03.2026

## Children Covered under Mid-Day Meal Scheme

3753. Shri Malaiyarasan D:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) the total number of children covered under the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme in the country, State-wise including Tamil Nadu, especially in Kallakurichi Lok Sabha Parliamentary Constituency;

(b)  the  nutritional  standards  and  quality  control  mechanisms  put  in  place  to  ensure  that  meals provided under the Scheme meet prescribed dietary requirements;

(c)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  introduce  regional  menu  variations  to  incorporate  local dietary habits and improve acceptability among children in Tamil Nadu;

(d) the measures taken by the Government to strengthen infrastructure, such as kitchens and storage in schools under the MDM Scheme; and

(e) the details of steps taken by the Government to ensure that all enrolled children receive timely, hygienic  and  nutritious  meals,  including  measures  for  monitoring,  grievance  redressal  and  local community participation?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (e): Education is in the Concurrent list of the Constitution and most of the Government Schools  and  School  Boards  are  under  the  administration  of  the  State  Governments  and  Union Territory (UT) Administrations. Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme is one of the foremost rights based Centrally Sponsored Scheme implemented in partnership with the States and UTs for providing one hot cooked and nutritious meal to all children studying in Bal Vatika (just before class-I) and classes I to VIII of Government and Government-aided schools.  The Scheme covers about 11 crore children in more than 10.35 lakh schools in all the States/UTs. The overall responsibility for smooth functioning of the scheme including providing hot cooked and nutritious meal  to  the  eligible  children  as  well  as  engagement  of  cook-cum-helpers  (CCHs)  lies  with  the States/UTs. State/UT-wise details of number of children enrolled (including in the State of Tamil Nadu) under PM POSHAN Scheme is at Annexure-I .  The State Government of Tamil Nadu has informed that, in Kallakurichi Lok Sabha Constituency, a total of 1,37,861 children are covered under PM POSHAN Scheme.

As per the provisions of National Food Security Act, 2013 and the Guidelines of the Scheme, the nutritional and food norms prescribed under the Scheme are at Annexure-II. The State/UTs are encouraged to decide menu suitable to the local conditions within the prescribed nutrition and food norms and to procure locally grown food items.

The Government of India has issued detailed guidelines to improve the implementation of the scheme to all the States/UTs. These guidelines are available on official website https://pmposhan.education.gov.in . These guidelines, inter-alia, provides for instructions to schools to procure Agmark quality and branded items for preparation of meals, training to CCHs, tasting of meals by members of School Management Committee including at least one teacher before serving the hot meal to children. The Guidelines inter-alia provides for training of CCHs on nutrition, cooking processes, health and hygiene, preparation of raw grains and vegetables, recipes, serving skills etc. States/UTs are providing training to CCHs in collaboration with Ministry of Tourism, Government of  India  through  their  Institutes  of  Hotel  Management  and  Food  Craft  Institutes,  FSSAI,  State Agricultural  Universities  etc.  States/  UTs  are  directed  to  conduct  Cooking  Competitions  among CCHs to encourage them to cook varied and nutritious meals. Many States/ UTs are conducting the Competitions and also giving cash prizes to the winners.

The cost of construction and repairing of Kitchen-cum-Stores (KCS) is shared between Centre and States/ UTs as per the approved sharing pattern. The norms for construction of KCS are as per plinth area norm and State Schedule of Rates. A 20 sq meter KCS may be constructed for school having enrolment of 100 students. Additional 4 sq metre may be added for every addition of up to 100 students. The slab of 100 students may be modified by the States / UTs depending upon local conditions. In one State / UT, there can be more than one slab, however, the modified prescription of plinth area has to confirm to the above ceiling.

The scheme also provides elaborate monitoring mechanism i.e. Empowered Committee under the Chairpersonship of Hon'ble Union Education Minister, Programme Approval Board (PAB) under the Chairpersonship of Secretary (DoSE&L), State Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee under the Chairpersonship of Chief Secretary, District level Steering-cum- Monitoring Committee under the Chairpersonship  of  District  Collector.  The  PM  Poshan  Guidelines  provides  a  District  Level Committee under the Chairmanship of senior most Member of Parliament (MP) of the district to monitor the scheme on quarterly basis.

At local level Gram Panchayats/Gram Sabhas, members of Village Education Committees (VECs),  Parent-Teacher  Associations  (PTAs)  and  the  School  Management  Committees  (SMCs) monitor the regularity and wholesomeness of the meal served to children, cleanliness in cooking and serving of the meal, timeliness in procurement of good quality ingredients, fuel, etc., implementation of variety in menu so as to make it attractive to children and ensuring social and gender equity on daily basis.

*****

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (A)  TO  (E)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3753 FOR 16.03.2026 RAISED BY SHRI MALAIYARASAN D,  HON'BLE  MP  REGARDING  CHILDREN  COVERED  UNDER  MID-DAY  MEAL SCHEME.

Number of children enrolled under PM POSHAN Scheme

| S.No.   | State/UT          |   Total Number of Students enrolled |
|---------|-------------------|-------------------------------------|
| 1       | A &NIslands       |                               29226 |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh    |                             2592740 |
| 3       | Arunachal Pradesh |                              141799 |
| 4       | Assam             |                             3919049 |
| 5       | Bihar             |                            17308297 |
| 6       | Chandigarh        |                               99872 |
| 7       | Chhattisgarh      |                             2854587 |
| 8       | Delhi             |                             1656071 |
| 9       | DNH&DD            |                               75468 |
| 10      | Goa               |                              161643 |
| 11      | Gujarat           |                             5155763 |
| 12      | Haryana           |                             1548109 |
| 13      | Himachal Pradesh  |                              513484 |
| 14      | Jammu &Kashmir    |                              952108 |
| 15      | Jharkhand         |                             4103745 |
| 16      | Karnataka         |                             4133412 |
| 17      | Kerala            |                             2785920 |
| 18      | Ladakh            |                               17564 |
| 19      | Lakshadweep       |                                8961 |
| 20      | Madhya Pradesh    |                             6024221 |
| 21      | Maharashtra       |                             9651600 |
| 22      | Manipur           |                              189046 |
| 23      | Meghalaya         |                              709669 |
| 24      | Mizoram           |                              138987 |
| 25      | Nagaland          |                              128971 |
| 26      | Odisha            |                             4253138 |
| 27      | Puducherry        |                               51306 |
| 28      | Punjab            |                             1910058 |
| 29      | Rajasthan         |                             5701848 |
| 30      | Sikkim            |                               44606 |
| 31      | Tamil Nadu        |                             3947829 |
| 32      | Telangana         |                             1575209 |
| 33      | Tripura           |                              369820 |
| 34      | Uttar Pradesh     |                            15228504 |
| 35      | Uttarakhand       |                              619766 |
| 36      | West Bengal       |                            11344146 |
| Total   | Total             |                           109946542 |

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (A)  TO  (E)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3753 FOR 16.03.2026 RAISED BY SHRI MALAIYARASAN D,  HON'BLE  MP  REGARDING  CHILDREN  COVERED  UNDER  MID-DAY  MEAL SCHEME.

## Nutritional and Food Norms under PM Poshan Scheme

| Items                                        | For children of Primary classes              | For children of Upper Primary classes        |
|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| A) Nutritional Norms (Per child per day)     | A) Nutritional Norms (Per child per day)     | A) Nutritional Norms (Per child per day)     |
| Calorie                                      | 450                                          | 700                                          |
| Protein                                      | 12 gms                                       | 20 gms                                       |
| B) Quantum of Food Norms (Per child per day) | B) Quantum of Food Norms (Per child per day) | B) Quantum of Food Norms (Per child per day) |
| Food-grains                                  | 100 gms                                      | 150 gms                                      |
| Pulses                                       | 20 gms                                       | 30 gms                                       |
| Vegetables                                   | 50 gms                                       | 75 gms                                       |
| Oil &fat                                     | 5 gms                                        | 7.5 gms                                      |
| Salt &condiments                             | As per need                                  | As per need                                  |