Monetary assistance as component of Mid-day-Meal (MDM) Scheme

Monetary assistance as component of Mid-day-Meal (MDM) Scheme

Part of: GS Prelims and GS -II – Welfare schemes

In news

• Ministry of Education has approved the proposal to provide monetary assistance to 11.8 Crore students through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of the cooking cost component of the Mid-Day-Meal Scheme, to all eligible children, as a special welfare measure.

Key takeaways 

• This will give a fillip to the Midday Meal programme. 

Government of India had also announced 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).

Important value additions 

• The National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in 1995. 
• Objective: To enhance enrolment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improve nutritional levels among children. 
• In 2001 it became a cooked Mid Day Meal Scheme.
• The Scheme covers children of classes I-VIII studying in government, government-aided schools, special training centres (STC) and madarsas/ maqtabs supported under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). 
• It is the largest school feeding programme in the world.
• It is covered by the National Food Security Act, 2013.