NEW DELHI: Odisha would soon provide mid-day meals to around 8 lakh students studying in std 9 and 10 of government schools in the state, Chief Minister Mohan Majhi announced at a function in Cuttack on Tuesday.
Majhi made the announcement during the centenary celebration of Ranihat High School in Cuttack town on Tuesday evening.
Officials said the state Budget for 2025-26 set to be tabled next week in the state Assembly would have Budgetary provisions for the same.
After the BJP government came to power, there were demands to include the students of Std 9 and 10 in the scheme as many alleged that they were being discriminated.
Since its inception in July 1995 in Odisha, the Mid-Day Meal program provided cooked midday meals to primary school students in government and government-aided schools from Class I to V throughout the state.
From April 2008, students in standards 6, 7, and 8 (upper primary) started receiving mid-day meals in Odisha taking the total number of beneficiaries to 44.5 lakh in 51500 schools.
In September 2021, the scheme was renamed PM-POSHAN (Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman) by the Ministry of Education.
The program that aims to improve nutritional status and encourage school attendance, provides rice with โDalmaโ on Mondays and Thursdays, rice and Soybean curry on Tuesdays and Fridays, and rice and egg curry on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The state government has now announced that 200 ml of milk enriched with Vitamin A and D would be provided in mid-day meals to increase the nutritional intake of the students.
Data from 1995/96 to 2004-05 shows a steady decrease in dropout rates in Odisha since the MDMโs introduction.
A study found that over 76 % of government primary school teachers saw the Mid Day Meal Scheme as helping achieve the goals of the Universalization of Elementary Education.
