The Union Minister for Education Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ has approved the proposal to provide monetary assistance to 11.8 Crore students (118 Million Students) through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of the cooking cost component of the Mid-Day-Meal Scheme.
- The benefit will be provided to all eligible children, as a special welfare measure.
- This is in addition to the Government of India’s announcement of distribution of free-of-cost food grains @ 5 Kg per person per month to nearly 80 Crore beneficiaries under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY).
- The Central Government will provide additional funds of about Rs 1200 crore to State Governments and UT Administrations for this purpose. This one time special welfare measure of the union Government will benefit about 11.8 crore children studying in class I to VIII in the 11.20 lakh Government and Government aided schools across the country.
About Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS)
- Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS), is a Centrally-Sponsored Scheme which covers all school children studying in Classes I-VIII of Government, Government-Aided Schools.
- The scheme covers more than 12 crore children studying in 11.4 lakh schools across the country.
- Government of India incurs more than Rs 17,600 crore in the scheme including the subsidy of about Rs.7,600 crore on food grains.
- The average per meal cost borne by Central Government is Rs 6.64 and Rs. 9.59 for students of primary and upper primary classes, respectively.
