School Meals: India's PM POSHAN

How India's school meal programme, one of the largest in the world, affects nutrition, attendance and learning.

Every school day, tens of millions of Indian children eat a hot cooked meal at school. This is the programme formerly called the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, renamed PM POSHAN in 2021. It is one of the largest school feeding programmes in the world.

History

Tamil Nadu was a pioneer: it began expanding school meals in the 1950s and 1960s and launched a large noon meal programme in 1982. A national programme began in 1995. In 2001, India’s Supreme Court ordered all state governments to provide cooked meals in government primary schools. Coverage expanded to upper primary classes later.

What it provides

The programme provides hot cooked meals to children in government and government-aided schools, covering around 120 million children. Meals are expected to meet minimum standards for calories and protein, and many states add eggs, fruit or milk.

The effects

Economists have studied the programme’s effects:

Attendance and enrolment: studies found meals increased school attendance, especially for girls and children from poorer families.
Nutrition: meals reduce classroom hunger. Research by Suman Chakrabarti and co-authors found that children whose mothers had access to school meals as girls were less likely to be stunted, suggesting benefits across generations.
Learning: some studies found improvements in test scores, possibly because children are less hungry and more attentive.
Social equality: children from different castes and backgrounds eat together, which some researchers argue helps reduce discrimination.

Hunger in the classroom

A child who walks to school without breakfast may struggle to concentrate by mid-morning. A hot meal at school removes that hunger, and knowing a meal is provided gives parents another reason to send the child to school rather than to work. The same meal serves nutrition, attendance and learning at once.

Challenges

The programme faces challenges including food quality and safety, irregular funding, low pay for cooks and helpers, and corruption in some places. A tragic incident in Bihar in 2013, when contaminated food killed 23 children, led to stronger safety rules. Studies continue on how to improve quality and add more nutritious foods.

Thinking school meals are only about food

School meal programmes also raise attendance, support learning, provide jobs for local cooks, create demand for local farm produce and bring children from different backgrounds together. Their benefits reach well beyond nutrition.

Key takeaways

PM POSHAN, formerly the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, feeds around 120 million Indian children.
Tamil Nadu pioneered school meals, and a 2001 Supreme Court order made them universal in government primary schools.
Research links school meals to higher attendance, better nutrition and possibly better learning.
Quality, safety and funding remain challenges.