: Milk to be ‘integral’ part of midday meal scheme soon #FinanceIndia #StockMarketNEWS #Business New Delhi: Milk will soon be an integral part of the midday meal scheme to ensure proper nutrition

@StockMarketNEWS Wed 09 Sep, 2020

Posted in: #Business #FinanceIndia #StockMarketNEWS

Milk to be ‘integral’ part of midday meal scheme soon #FinanceIndia #StockMarketNEWS #Business
New Delhi: Milk will soon be an integral part of the midday meal scheme to ensure proper nutrition to all students in government schools across the country, which is in tune with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aim to make a malnutrition-free India.

The Women and Child Development (WCD) and Education Ministries are working in a coordinated way to meet the Prime Minister’s vision of providing nutritious meals to the students in government schools.

All the officials linked to the departments concerned dealing with the policies have been directed by both the ministries on the 3rd ‘Rashtriya Poshan Maah’ to expedite changes in midday meal by including milk soon after the schools resume functioning with attendance by children.

The Prime Minister had in 2018 launched ‘Poshan Abhiyaan’ a robust scheme which has been playing an important role in eliminating malnutrition from the country.

On this ‘Poshan Maah 2020’, Modi’s government planned to focus on an intensive campaign across the country for the holistic nourishment of children with severe acute malnutrition, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said.

In this regard, an official, requesting anonymity, said that the Education Ministry may come up with a revised menu for midday meals scheme, that will include milk as an integral component.

All the state government’s have been told to implement the new midday meal policy which includes milk.

Earlier, the then HRD Ministry had revised its midday meal policy in 2016.

In order to give better quality food to children in schools where midday meals are provided, the HRD has revised its norms, that include milk as a necessary supplement.

WCD Minister Smriti Irani on Monday assured Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu that the central government would consider recommending to all the states to “include milk in the midday meal scheme???.

Irani’s assurance came after Naidu earlier in the day suggested to her to add milk in breakfast or midday meals of children to improve nutritional level.

The Vice President spoke with Irani on the 3rd Rashtriya Poshan Maah aimed at contributing towards a malnutrition-free India.

An official in the Education Ministry said that all students from Classes 1 to 8 in all government schools will be given 200 ml milk every day along with the midday meals.

As per the official, this policy as is similar to the one issued in 2016 and then HRD Ministry direction to states in 2018 in which many loopholes were reported in its implementation.

The states were earlier also directed to include milk and milk products in the midday meals so that these items could be procured from cooperative milk unions or federations.