PM POSHAN Scheme Revamp — Mid-Day Meal Nutrition Norms and Fortification Mandate
The Ministry of Education revised the nutritional norms under PM POSHAN Shakti Nirman (formerly Mid-Day Meal Scheme) in March 2026, mandating 100% fortified rice in all school meals from Class 1 to Cl
What happened
The Ministry of Education revised the nutritional norms under PM POSHAN Shakti Nirman (formerly Mid-Day Meal Scheme) in March 2026, mandating 100% fortified rice in all school meals from Class 1 to Class 8, increasing caloric requirements for primary school children by 15%, and introducing a weekly egg or milk provision in 11 aspirational district states. The scheme covers approximately 11.8 crore children across 11.4 lakh government and government-aided schools. PM POSHAN was renamed and restructured from the Mid-Day Meal Scheme under the National Education Policy 2020 framework.
PM POSHAN Shakti Nirman is the renamed and expanded version of the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Scheme — one of the world's largest school feeding programmes.
●It covers Classes 1–8 in government and government-aided schools, providing one hot cooked meal per school day.
●Administered by the Ministry of Education (not Ministry of Women and Child Development), it is centrally sponsored with states bearing 40% of the food cost.
●The 2026 revision mandates fortified rice (iron, folic acid, Vitamin B12) to address anaemia in school-age children — NFHS-5 found 67% of children aged 6–59 months anaemic.
PM POSHAN is simultaneously India's largest nutrition intervention and its largest school retention tool — attendance rises by 20–25% in schools where meals are reliably provided.
Factual Pointers
Practice · 2 questions
Consider the following statements about PM POSHAN Shakti Nirman:
1. It is administered by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
2. It covers students from Classes 1 to 8 in government and government-aided schools.
3. It was launched in 2021 as a renamed and expanded version of the Mid-Day Meal Scheme.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The cost-sharing ratio between the Centre and States for PM POSHAN food costs for general category states is:
MCQ Practice
3 questions on this article
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