Lok Sabha Question No. 4936 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-23
Subject: Children Covered under PM POSHAN Scheme in Andhra Pradesh
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri P V Midhun Reddy

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

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO4936

ANSWERED ON- 23.03.2026

## Children Covered under PM POSHAN Scheme in Andhra Pradesh

4936. Shri P V Midhun Reddy:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a)  the number of children covered under the PM POSHAN Scheme in Andhra Pradesh, districtwise;

(b) the details of  availability  of  cook-cum-helpers,  kitchen  sheds  and  infrastructure  in Government schools of the said State;

(c) the details of food safety, nutrition quality and monitoring mechanisms in place; and

(d) the details of special interventions for tribal, aspirational districts and remote areas of the said State?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (d):  Education is a subject in the Concurrent List of the Constitution of India and the majority of schools are under the administrative control of the respective State Government/Union Territory (UT) administration. 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.

The district-wise number of children enrolled under the PM POSHAN Scheme as reported by State Government of Andhra Pradesh is at Annexure-I . Further, the State has also reported the details of CCHs, kitchen sheds and infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh which is at Annexure-II .

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, provide 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, provide 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  the  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 scheme also provides elaborate monitoring mechanism i.e. Empowered Committee under the Chairpersonship of the Hon'ble Union Education Minister, Programme Approval Board (PAB) under the Chairpersonship of the Secretary (DoSE&L), State Steering-cum-Monitoring Committee under the Chairpersonship of the Chief Secretary, District level Steering-cum- Monitoring Committee under the Chairpersonship of the 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.

There is a provision of 5% of total recurring budget as the flexi component to be used by the States/UTs  for  setting  up  of  School  Nutrition  Gardens  (SNGs)  and  provision  of  Supplementary Nutrition  interventions  in  identified  districts.  Many  States/UTs  provide  additional  supplementary nutrition interventions like egg, milk, chikki, fresh fruits, chicken, ragi malt etc.

*****

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (A)  TO  (D)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  4936  FOR  23.03.2026  RAISED  BY  SHRI  P  V  MIDHUN REDDY,  HON'BLE  MP  REGARDING  CHILDREN  COVERED  UNDER  PM  POSHAN SCHEME IN ANDHRA PRADESH.

## Number of children covered under the PM POSHAN Scheme

| S. No.   | Districts     |   No. of Children |
|----------|---------------|-------------------|
| 1        | Srikakulam    |            106750 |
| 2        | Manyam        |             49860 |
| 3        | Vizianagaram  |             75937 |
| 4        | Visakhapatnam |             48865 |
| 5        | ASR           |             92123 |
| 6        | Anakapalli    |             61482 |
| 7        | Kakinada      |             85599 |
| 8        | East Godavari |             63242 |
| 9        | Konaseema     |             62376 |
| 10       | Eluru         |             78833 |
| 11       | West Godavari |             62285 |
| 12       | Krishna       |             59428 |
| 13       | NTR           |             60425 |
| 14       | Guntur        |             67009 |
| 15       | Palnadu       |             98963 |
| 16       | Bapatla       |             60651 |
| 17       | Prakasam      |            126864 |
| 18       | SPSR Nellore  |            119033 |
| 19       | Tirupati      |             99262 |
| 20       | Chittoor      |            103794 |
| 21       | Annamayya     |             90901 |
| 22       | YSR Kadapa    |             93252 |
| 23       | Sri Satyasai  |             90583 |
| 24       | Ananthapuram  |            141347 |
| 25       | Kurnool       |            197380 |
| 26       | Nandyal       |             96091 |
|          | Total         |           2292335 |

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (A)  TO  (D)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4936  FOR  23.03.2026  RAISED  BY  SHRI  P  V  MIDHUN REDDY,  HON'BLE  MP  REGARDING  CHILDREN  COVERED  UNDER  PM  POSHAN SCHEME IN ANDHRA PRADESH.

## Details of CCHs, Kitchen Sheds and Infrastructure in Andhra Pradesh

|   Total Schools |   No. of CCHs |   No. of Schools with Kitchen Sheds |   No. of class rooms |   No. of Toilets |   No. of Schools with drinking water facility |   No. of Schools with furniture |   No. of Schools with electricity facility |
|-----------------|---------------|-------------------------------------|----------------------|------------------|-----------------------------------------------|---------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
|           43218 |         79948 |                               32484 |               171804 |           124147 |                                         43101 |                           43101 |                                      43101 |