Midday Meal Scheme

The Mid Day Meal Scheme, officially PM-POSHAN, is a <a href="/facts/School_meal/5JtPDPxf">school meal</a> programme in India designed to better the <a href="/facts/Nutrition/SMJ3Dhfs">nutritional</a> status of school-age children nationwide. The programme supplies free lunches on working days for children in government primary and upper primary schools, government aided <a href="/facts/Anganwadi/4lofft9x">anganwadis</a>, <a href="/facts/Madrasa/zrCBh8dM">madrasas</a> and <a href="/facts/Maqtab/sbNX3r4M">maqtabs</a>. Serving 120 million children in over 1.27 million schools and Education Guarantee Scheme centres, the Midday Meal Scheme is the largest of its kind in the world.
In 1920, <a href="/facts/A._Subbarayalu_Reddiar/ulRVgQJS">A. Subbarayalu Reddiar</a>, the first Chief Minister of the Madras Presidency, introduced the mid-day meal scheme in a Corporation school in the Thousand Lights area. The initiative was based on the idea proposed by <a href="/facts/P._Theagaraya_Chetty/yD7CJchm">P. Theagaraya Chetty</a>, who was serving as the President of the <a href="/facts/Justice_Party_(India)/e2EaV2qj">Justice Party</a> at the time.
The Midday Meal Scheme has been implemented in the Union Territory of <a href="/facts/Puducherry_(union_territory)/5CHgSWyT">Puducherry</a> under the French Administration since 1930. In post-independent India, the Midday Meal Scheme was first launched in <a href="/facts/Tamil_Nadu/ouqcjUKE">Tamil Nadu</a>, pioneered by the former <a href="/facts/Chief_Minister_of_Tamil_Nadu/IV8t7pp7">Chief Minister</a> <a href="/facts/K._Kamaraj/9vLYLTx8">K. Kamaraj</a> in the early 1960s. By 2002, the scheme was implemented in all of the states under the orders of the <a href="/facts/Supreme_Court_of_India/GfYduSqA">Supreme Court of India</a>.
In 2021, the <a href="/facts/Government_of_India/BIpETqjv">Central Government</a> announced that an additional 24 lakh students receiving pre-primary education at government and government-aided schools would also be included under the scheme by 2022.[needs update]
Under article 24, paragraph 2c of the <a href="/facts/Convention_on_the_Rights_of_the_Child/YzGsfyY8">Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>, to which India is a party, India has committed to yielding "adequate nutritious food" for children. The programme has undergone many changes since its launch in 1995. The Midday Meal Scheme is covered by the <a href="/facts/National_Food_Security_Act%2c_2013/vMCwH3yU">National Food Security Act, 2013</a>. The legal backing for the Indian school meal programme is akin to the legal backing provided in the US through the <a href="/facts/National_School_Lunch_Act/WwUDWq16">National School Lunch Act</a>.

Midday Meal Scheme open-in-new

Midday Meal Scheme