SDG 1: No Poverty

• Target 1.2: Reduce by half the proportion of children living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions, through improved nutrition and educational outcomes.
  • Indicator 1.2.2: Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions

• Target 1.4: Ensure that all children, especially those in vulnerable situations, have access to basic services such as food, health, and education
  • Indicator 1.4.1: Proportion of population living in households with access to basic services

SDG 2: Zero Hunger

• Target 2.1: Ensure access by all people, particularly children in vulnerable situations, to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food year-round
  • Indicator 2.1.1: Prevalence of undernourishment

• Target 2.2: End all forms of malnutrition, including achieving the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age.
  • Indicator 2.2.1: Prevalence of stunting (height for age <-2 standard deviation from the median of the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age
  • Indicator 2.2.2: Prevalence of malnutrition (weight for height >+2 or <-2 standard deviation from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age, by type (wasting and overweight)
  • Indicator 2.2.3 Prevalence of anaemia in women aged 15 to 49 years, by pregnancy status (percentage)

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being

• Target 3.1: Reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births.
  • Indicator 3.1.1: Maternal mortality ratio
  • Indicator 3.1.2: Proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel

• Target 3.2: End preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age.
  • Indicator 3.2.1: Under-5 mortality rate

• Target 3.4: Reduce premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment.
  • Indicator 3.4.1: Mortality rate attributed to cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes or chronic respiratory disease

SDG 4: Quality Education

• Target 4.1: Ensure that all youth and a substantial proportion of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy
  • Indicator 4.1.1: Proportion of children and young people (a) in grades 2/3; (b) at the end of primary; and (c) at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in (i) reading and (ii) mathematics, by sex
  • Indicator 4.1.2: Completion rate (primary education, lower secondary education, upper secondary education)

• Target 4.5: Eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and children in vulnerable situations.
  • Indicator 4.5.1: Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated

SDG 5: Gender Equality

• Target 5.1: End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
  • Indicator 5.1.1: Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce and monitor equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex

SDG 10: Reduced Inequality

• Target 10.2: Empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion, or economic or other status. age
  • Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities

The PM POSHAN programme is designed to provide one hot, cooked mid-day meal every school day to students aged 5 to 14. This universal provision covers children from Balvatika (the pre-primary year immediately preceding Class I) through to Class VIII in all government and government-aided schools. Its geographic coverage spans all 36 states and Union Territories, successfully reaching millions of students across more than 1 million government, government-aided, and local body schools. Crucially, the scheme operates on egalitarian basis, offering meals without any reference to socio-economic discrimination/inequalities. By refusing to discriminate on the grounds of class, caste, gender, region, race, or religion, the initiative ensures that all eligible children receive equal nutritional and educational benefits.

To effectively combat child malnutrition and alleviate classroom hunger, the programme mandates strict, legally binding nutritional norms under the National Food Security Act, 2013:

• Primary school children (Classes I–V): 450 calories and 12 grams of protein (comprising 100g food grains, 20g pulses, 50g vegetables, and 5g oil/fat).
• Upper primary students (Classes VI–VIII): Upper primary children receive a meal providing 700 calories and 20 grams of protein (150g food grains, 30g pulses, 75g vegetables, and 7.5g oil/fat)

Because children from diverse social backgrounds sit together to share a common meal, the school environment actively spreads egalitarian values and helps to break down entrenched barriers of caste and class. Furthermore, the appointment of cooks from Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities serves as a practical, daily lesson for students in overcoming historical prejudices. At the grassroots level, the initiative relies heavily on local community participation. Parents, voluntary organisations, and local women’s self-help groups are actively involved in the preparation and serving of the meals.  This decentralised approach not only fosters a strong sense of community ownership but also generates vital local employment opportunities, as the cook-cum-helpers are recruited directly from the surrounding community.

Beyond food provision, PM POSHAN incorporates several innovative components to create a holistic social safety net. One core feature is the promotion of School Nutrition Gardens (SNGs). Schools are encouraged to grow fresh vegetables and fruits to be used in the daily meals and to educate children on nutrition. This provides a direct form of environmental and agricultural education for children while enriching the nutritional value of their school meals. Another unique element is Tithi Bhojan, a community participation initiative where local citizens voluntarily provide special food or additional nutritional items to students on special occasions, birthdays, festivals, or national days, fostering deeper community ownership.

Aapproaches to reach poor and vulnerable groups:

• Additional nutritional provisions are made specifically for children in aspirational districts, tribal districts, and areas with a high prevalence of malnutrition or anemia.
• The scheme also plays a pivotal role in women’s empowerment:
  • For young girls, it helps erode the traditional barriers that prevent them from attending school.
  • For adult women, it eases the daily burden of cooking at home during the day, which encourages and enables their wider participation in the workforce.

The experience of running the scheme demonstrates that the following measures are prerequisites for success:

Decentralised Governance:

• Localised decision-making: Implementation machinery and decision-making must be decentralised to remain responsive to local contexts.
• Menu adaptability: Menus should be flexible, decentralised, and appropriate to local dietary preferences and ingredient availability.
• Community Involvement: Engaging local communities, parents, and stakeholders is vital. Conducting regular Social Audits ensures transparency and community-led monitoring.

Robust Logistics and Financial Flows:

• Supply chain efficiency: A reliable logistics and distribution system for the timely delivery of foodgrains.
• Safe storage: Secure and hygienic storage facilities for cooking items to prevent adulteration, contamination, and spillage.

• Resource Allocation: The timely provision of funds and cooking ingredients prevents disruptions in the daily feeding schedule.

Health Standards:

• Hygiene standards: Maintaining stringent hygiene protocols during food preparation, serving, and storage is highly relevant for the scheme’s success.
• Quality control: Adherence to nutritional standards must be guaranteed through regular testing and continuous quality monitoring.

Human Resources and Capacity Building:

• Adequate staffing: Schools must be provided with an adequate number of Cook-Cum-Helpers (CCHs) to manage the workload effectively.
• Continuous training: Comprehensive, ongoing training for all CCHs to maintain safety and nutritional standards.
• Clear Roles: Designating specific teachers or headmasters to oversee implementation and reporting at the school level.

Data-Driven Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E):

• Real-Time Reporting: Implementing daily, IT-enabled reporting mechanisms allows for immediate oversight and rapid response to bottlenecks.
• Systematic Evaluation: Comprehensive M&E frameworks are required to continuously identify areas needing improvement and to document and scale successful practices.

Access to basic education; Prevention and control of micronutrient deficiencies; Promotion and access to healthy diets, including through education and affordable/subsidized prices

In India:

• Ministry of Education
• Department of School Education & Literacy (DSEL)
• NITI Aayog

International:

• UNICEF

The overall responsibility for providing cooked and nutritious meal to eligible children lies with the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations. States/ UTs have to ensure that all logistic and administrative arrangements are made to ensure regular serving of wholesome, nutritious and cooked meal in every eligible school.

Implementation Structure and Programme Management – Roles and Responsibilities:

A programme of the scale and magnitude of the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman requires a Management structure which is robust and dynamic. It is imperative that the Management system at various levels is clearly articulated and the roles of the different agencies involved clearly delineated. The programme requires close co-operation and coordination of the various agencies involved in the implementation of Scheme.

The Scheme envisages putting in place the following Management structures at the National, State, District/Block and Local levels.

2.1 National Level:

i) Empowered Committee: An Empowered Committee has been set up under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Shiksha Mantri (Education Minister) for monitoring the access, safety, hygiene and quality aspects in the implementation of the Scheme; Review mechanism in place to ensure effective monitoring and evaluation of the scheme; Review mechanism in place for community participation in the scheme and its effective monitoring.

ii) National level Steering cum Monitoring Committee (NSMC): The Department of School Education and Literacy has set up a National Level Steering cum Monitoring Committee (NSMC) to oversee the implementation of the programme.

2.2 State/UT level:

i) Steering cum Monitoring Committee:

a) States and UT administrations are also required to set up Steering cum Monitoring Committees (SMCs) at the State, District and Block levels to oversee the implementation of the programme which function, mutatis mutandis, similar to those spelt out in above para for the NSMC. Besides, District and Block level SMCs should also be constituted for all Districts and Blocks. A suggested composition of Steering-cum-Monitoring Committees at various levels

b) The State level Steering cum Monitoring Committee will meet at least once in every six months.

c) The District and Block level Steering cum Monitoring Committee will meet at least once in every month.

ii) Every State Government /UT Administration will designate one of its Departments as the Nodal Department, which will take responsibility for the implementation of the programme.

iii) State Governments/UT Administrations may set up Implementation Cell attached to the State Nodal Department to oversee the implementation of the programme by using a part of funds under MME.

iv) Taking into account the Central assistance available under the Scheme, every State Government/UT Administration will prescribe and notify its own norms of expenditure on the Scheme which cannot be less than the norms fixed by the Central Government, based on which it will allocate funds for the implementation of the programme. The norms, thus notified, will be referred to as “State Norms”. The State Norms would spell out inter alia, modalities for ensuring regular and uninterrupted provision of nutritious cooked meal.

v) To ensure uninterrupted supply of cooked food to all eligible children across the State is a challenging task. State Governments/UT Administrations will have to develop and circulate detailed guidelines taking into account common obstacles which may come in the way of regular supply of cooked meal, including for example:

a) In case of delay in flow of monetary assistance from the Centre to the States (e.g. due to late or defective Utilisation Certificates or unspent balances). State Governments will have to make adequate provision for the programme (both for centre and state) in their annual budget, in anticipation of actual flow of Central assistance. However, if for any reason, there is some delay in its actual transfer, that must not be allowed to interrupt actual provision of hot cooked meal to children.

b) In case of delay in release of funds sanctioned by the Central Government from the State Finance Department on account of the State’s ‘ways and means’ position, State Nodal Departments will need to ensure that the State Finance Department releases the funds intended for the Scheme expeditiously.

c) In case of delays on account of hierarchical level-wise releases from State to district to taluk/block to gram Panchayat to School.

d) In case of irregular supply of food grains from FCI godown or interruption in their timely transportation to schools. States will need to ensure that FCI gives priority to the Scheme. States should also ensure that a minimum of one-month buffer stock of food grains and cooking costs is available in each school.

e) In case of failure of the local implementation agency to adequately procure and stock up cooking ingredients.

f)  In case of absence of cook for any reason, etc.

vi) The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education will convey the allocation of food grains and central grants meant for food grains, cooking cost, honorarium to CCH, Transportation Assistance, MME, kitchen-cum-store, kitchen devices as approved by the PAB to the State Nodal Department and the FCI. The State Nodal Department will convey district wise allocations to all District Nodal Agencies.

vii) The State Nodal Agency will ensure that the District Nodal Agencies have suballocated the monthly district allocation to the sub-district level which in turn will further allocate to each school. B P A PM POSHAN Guidelines Page 19 of 140

viii) Nodal agency for transportation of food-grains: Transportation of food grains from nearest FCI depot to each School is a major logistical responsibility. State Government will be expected to make arrangements in this regard in the following manner:

a) Wherever appropriate, a single Govt./Semi-Government agency with Statewide jurisdiction and network, e.g. State Civil Supplies Corporation, may be designated as the State Nodal Transport Agency. This Agency will be responsible for lifting food grains from FCI godowns and delivering them to designated authority at the taluk/block level. State Government will also need to make fool proof arrangements to ensure that the food grains are carried from the district/block level to each school, etc., in a timely manner.

b) Alternatively, District/Block Panchayats may be assigned the responsibility for different districts/blocks or groups of districts/blocks in the State.

2.3 District and Block Level:

i) Every State Government/UT Administration will designate one nodal officer or agency at the district and block level (e.g. the District Collector, District/Intermediate Panchayat, etc.) who shall be assigned overall responsibility of effective implementation of the programme at the district/block level.

ii) In States which have devolved the function of primary education either by legislation or executive order on Panchayats, the Chief Executive Officer of District Panchayats or the Executive Officer of Block Panchayats will be the Nodal Officer with overall responsibility for effective implementation of the programme at the district level. In such States, the responsibility for implementing the programme within their jurisdiction shall be that of the Panchayats and the Urban Local Bodies concerned which have been assigned the responsibility by the State.

iii) The District Nodal Agency will ensure that each school is informed of its monthly allocation of food grains and financial sanctions. It shall also identify the Transportation Agency to transport foodgrains from the nearest FCI godown to school. The transportations could be done once in a month.

iv) The district/ block nodal agency will also take responsibility for developing indicative menus using locally available and culturally acceptable food items.

2.4 Village level:

In States which have devolved the function of primary education through legislation and/or executive order on Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies, the responsibility of implementation and day to day supervision of the programme shall be assigned to the Gram Panchayat/Municipality. The School Management Committee mandated under Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 shall also monitor implementation of the PM POSHAN Scheme and shall oversee quality of meals provided to the children, cleanliness of the place of cooking and maintenance of hygiene in implementation of the scheme.

2.5 School level-Teachers, CCH, SMC, Students, Parents:

i) As far as possible, responsibility for cooking/supply of cooked meal should be assigned to one of the following:

a) Cook-Cum-Helpers

b) Local women’s/mothers’ Self-Help Group

c) Local Youth Club affiliated to the Nehru Yuvak Kendras

d) A voluntary organization (as specified in guidelines for engagement of CSO/NGO)

ii) Responsibility of the day-to-day management of the programme at school level may be given to School Management Committee.

iii) Very limited role of teachers: Under Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman, States and UT have engaged cook-cum-helpers either directly or through women self-help groups, for cooking and serving meals under the scheme. Teachers should, therefore, under no circumstances be assigned responsibilities that will impede or interfere with teaching learning. Teachers should, however, be involved in ensuring these:

(a) good quality, wholesome food is served to children.

(b) the actual serving and eating is undertaken in a spirit of togetherness, under hygienic conditions, and in an orderly manner so that the entire process is completed in 30-40 minutes.

(c) It should, however, be ensured that the food prepared is tasted by 2-3 adults including at least one teacher before it is served to children.

iv) Community Support:

  a) School managements should also be encouraged to draw on the support of the community. Gram Panchayats and School Management Committees may be approached for arranging community members to regularly, on a rotation basis, help the school management in ensuring efficient cooking, serving and cleaning operations.

b) The involvement of teachers and community members in ensuring that children eat together in a spirit of camaraderie and develop sensitivity to their peers with different abilities, by offering them precedence, and instilling values of equality and cooperation would be very valuable support to the implementation of the programme.

c) Support of the community members, including mothers’ groups, could also be solicited to ensure that children wash their hands with soap before eating, use clean plates and glasses, avoid littering and wastage of food, and clean their plates, rinse their hands and mouth after eating.

d) Scheme also offers wide opportunity of self-employment to poor women who could constitute self-help groups. Such groups can take the responsibility of cooking and serving meals with the overall assistance of the local level implementing agency.

e) Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman can provide the groups the scope for income generating activities such as growing & supplying vegetables, preparing condiments, etc.

f) Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman Scheme could also provide opportunity for involvement of SHGs in the management of the programme, thus ensuring that teaching-learning processes in the classroom are not affected, while SHGs take responsibility for regular. In the selection, priority should be given to SHGs with membership of poor women, and whose children are participating in the programme.

g) Procurement, cooking and distribution process.

h) Tithi Bhojan (Meal) is a community participation concept relying on Indian traditional practice of providing food to large number of people on special occasions such as festivals, anniversaries, birthdays, marriages, and days of national importance etc. Under this community provides nutritious and healthy food to the children as an additional food item or full meal on such special occasions/festivals.

116.3 million (11.63 crore) students across 1.067 million (10.67 lakh) government and government-aided schools (2023-24).

Budget Estimate 2024-2025: INR 124.67 billion (approx. USD 1.36 billion).

Management Information System (MIS): A web-enabled PM POSHAN-MIS has been launched for the effective online monitoring of the scheme. The portal captures information on important parameters like category-wise enrolment, teacher (looking after PM POSHAN) details, cook-cum-helper details with social composition, and the availability of infrastructural facilities like kitchen-cum-stores and kitchen devices, mode of cooking, drinking water, toilet facilities, etc., on an annual basis.

The states/UTs are also feeding monthly data into the portal, which helps in monitoring the critical components/indicators of PM POSHAN, such as the number of meals served, utilisation of foodgrains and cooking costs, honorarium paid to cook-cum-helpers, school inspection details, etc.

Automated Monitoring System (AMS): This department has put in place an automated system of data collection for the real-time monitoring of the PM POSHAN Scheme. Such data (on the number of meals served on that particular day and the reasons if meals are not served) is being captured from schools at no cost to the school headmaster/teacher. Under the Automated Monitoring System, states/UTs have set up a suitable system of data collection (i.e., Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS)/SMS/Mobile Application/Web Application) from schools on a daily basis and are using it for the purpose of monitoring and timely follow-up action. States/UTs are pushing data on specific fields in a predefined format on a real-time basis to the central server maintained by NIC. A central portal has been provided for the analysis and display of data at the central level. Based on the data collected, various drill-down reports are made available for the real-time monitoring of the scheme at the national/state/district/block levels. Daily email alerts are sent to states/UTs regarding the number of schools that have reported data on that particular date and the schools where meals have not been served.

https://pmposhan.education.gov.in/