The Union Minister for Education 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, to all eligible children, as a special welfare measure.
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This will give a fillip to the Midday Meal programme. 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).
With a view to enhancing enrolment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improving nutritional levels among children, the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in 1995. In 2001 MDMS became a cooked Mid Day Meal Scheme.
The Mid-Day Meal 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.
The Midday Meal Scheme is covered by the National Food Security Act, 2013.