Introduce millets in Mid-Day Meal Scheme: Centre to state governments

The Centre is making a continuous effort to improve the nutritional value of the Mid-Day meal for the children. It has asked all the states to explore the possibility of the introduction of millet in the Mid-Day meal scheme.

Minister of State for Education Annpurna Devi in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha informed that In order to enhance nutrition among children Central Government requested State Governments/Union Territory Administrations to explore the possibility of introducing millets under PM POSHAN Scheme preferably in the districts where eating millets is a culturally accepted food habit.

“It is suggested to introduce millets (coarse grains) based menu once a week and also conduct cooking competitions among Cook-cum-Helpers to popularize millet based recipes. It is also suggested to prepare small videos for creating awareness about the goodness of millets and showcase them in schools and consumption of millets may be discussed during the School Management Committees (SMCs) and Parent Teachers Meeting (PTM),” Ministry of Education informed in a press statement.

It added, “NITI Aayog is also promoting introduction of millets in PM POSHAN Scheme and conducted a national consultation with State Governments/Union Territory Administrations. During consultation best practices on millets from Odisha, Telangana and Karnataka have been shared with other State Governments/Union Territory Administrations.”

It further informed that the Scheme provides for 3 types of food grains i.e. wheat, rice and coarse grains. “Food grains are allocated as proposed by State Governments/Union Territory Administrations as per their requirement in Annual Work Plan & Budget (AWP&B) and approved by Program Approval Board of the Scheme,” it said.