Bhubaneswar: As per the announcement made by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Children’s Day, the State government today enhanced the material cost under PM Poshan Scheme (also known as mid-day-meal).
The material cost for primary school students (Class-I to V) has been increased from Rs 5.90 to Rs 7.64 per meal while the cost for upper primary school students (Class-VI to VIII) has been enhanced from Rs 8.82 to Rs 10.94 per student. The revised cost will come with effect from December 1, 2024, officials said.
As per the PM-POSHAN (Odisha) database, cooked meals are currently being provided to 45 lakh students in 50,485 primary and upper primary schools in the State. Students are served rice with ‘dalma’ on Mondays and Thursdays, soya bean curry on Tuesdays and Fridays and egg curry on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The scheme guidelines say a primary student (Class I to VIII) has to be served 25 gm of dal and it is 30 gm in case of upper primary student (Class VI to VIII). When it comes to soya beans, it is 12 gm for a primary student and 25 gm for upper primary students. One egg is served to a student. The last revision of the meal cost was carried out in October 2022.