PM POSHAN - DNH&DD
Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD
6.6/10The PM POSHAN Scheme, implemented by the Department of Education, DNH & DD, provides nutritious mid-day meals to school children. Earlier known as the Mid Day Meal Scheme (launched on 15.08.1995), it was renamed in 2021 to improve nutrition, attendance, and learning outcomes.
States / UT: Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu
Nodal department: Education Department
Scheme for: Individual
Scheme profile
DBT (direct benefit transfer): No
Scheme open date: 1995-08-15
Categories: Education & Learning
Target beneficiaries: Individual
Tags: Mid-Day Meal, School Children, Nutrition, Government & Government Aided Schools, Health & Education
Details
The PM POSHAN Scheme, launched nationwide in 2021 by the Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India, is implemented in the Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu through the Department of Education. The scheme continues the earlier Mid-Day Meal Programme, aiming to provide hot, cooked, nutritious meals to children enrolled in government and government-aided schools. It seeks to enhance child nutrition, promote regular school attendance, and support overall academic performance.
Under the scheme, eligible children from Balvatika, Primary (I–V), and Upper Primary (VI–VIII) receive freshly prepared meals on all school working days. The meals are designed to meet prescribed nutritional norms, ensuring adequate calorie intake and essential nutrients for healthy growth. PM POSHAN also includes provisions for food safety, quality monitoring, kitchen devices, infrastructure strengthening, and community participation to ensure effective implementation.
The scheme particularly benefits children from economically and socially disadvantaged families, helping reduce classroom hunger and improve retention. In DNH&DD, the Directorate of Education oversees planning, fund allocation, meal preparation standards, and monitoring through school-level committees (SMCs). Through its holistic approach, PM POSHAN aims to boost children’s health, reduce malnutrition, and create an enabling environment for better learning outcomes.
Benefits
- 1) Hot cooked nutritious meals provided to students on all school working days. 2) Ensures adequate calorie and protein intake as per national nutritional norms. 3) Improves health and nutrition levels of school-going children. 4) Enhances school attendance retention and reduces classroom hunger. 5) Supports better concentration and learning outcomes among students. 6) Provides essential micronutrients to address anaemia and malnutrition. 7) Encourages enrollment in Government and Government Aided schools. 8) Strengthens social equity by serving all children without discrimination. 9) Includes food safety and hygiene measures for quality assurance. 10) Provides support for kitchen devices and infrastructure improvement
- Hot, cooked, nutritious meals provided to students on all school working days.
- Ensures adequate calorie and protein intake as per national nutritional norms.
- Improves health and nutrition levels of school-going children.
- Enhances school attendance, retention, and reduces classroom hunger.
- Supports better concentration and learning outcomes among students.
- Provides essential micronutrients to address anaemia and malnutrition.
- Encourages enrollment in Government and Government Aided schools.
- Strengthens social equity by serving all children without discrimination.
- Includes food safety and hygiene measures for quality assurance.
- Provides support for kitchen devices and infrastructure improvement.
Eligibility
- The applicant must be a school-going child enrolled in a Government (Balvatika–VIII), Government-aided (VI–VIII) or Local Body (Balvatika–VIII) school.
- The child should be studying in Balvatika, Primary classes I–V, or Upper Primary classes VI–VIII.
- No income criteria are applicable; all enrolled children are eligible.
- Children studying in Special Training Centres (STCs) under the RTE Act and CwSN enrolled under Home based Education are also eligible.
How useful is this scheme?
A practical look at this scheme for citizens
AI-generated insights showing how useful, accessible, and practical this scheme may be — combining deterministic scoring rules with a public-policy LLM analyst.
- Accessibility8.0
- Financial impact5.0
- Rural utility7.0
- Awareness5.5
- Simplicity3.0
- Inclusivity8.0
What problem does this scheme solve?
The PM POSHAN Scheme effectively addresses child nutrition and education by providing nutritious meals to school children, enhancing attendance and learning outcomes.
Key challenges addressed
- Child malnutrition
- Classroom hunger
- Low school attendance
Most beneficial for
- School children from economically disadvantaged families
- Government and government-aided school students
Likely challenges
- Ensuring consistent meal quality
- Monitoring and reporting meal coverage
Practical insights for citizens
High, as meals are provided directly in schools.
Rural challenges
- Infrastructure for meal delivery
- Monitoring meal quality
Implementation bottlenecks
- Coordination between schools and kitchens
Awareness challenges
- Limited outreach in remote areas
Application analysis
- Application mode
- Offline
- Documents burden
- None required
- Verification complexity
- Low
- Office dependency
- Moderate
- DBT dependency
- No
- CSC support
- Limited
- Estimated citizen effort
- Low
Estimated beneficiary reach
Benefit analysis
- Benefit type
- In Kind
- Benefit frequency
- Daily
- Benefit practicality
- High, as meals are provided on all school working days.
- Financial meaningfulness
- N/A
- Long-term impact
- Positive impact on child health and education outcomes.
Plain-language guidance
The PM POSHAN Scheme provides free nutritious meals to children in government and government-aided schools to improve their health and education. All enrolled children are eligible.
- Who should apply
- School-going children enrolled in government or government-aided schools.
- Who may struggle
- Families unaware of the scheme or those in remote areas with limited access.
- Best application route
- Apply through the local government school.
This intelligence section is generated by an AI policy analyst combined with rule-based scoring. Scores and narrative are estimates derived from the publicly available scheme information shown on this page; actual experience may vary by state, district, and department. Always confirm details on the official portal before you apply.
Application Process
Offline
Step 01: Child enrols in a government or Government-aided school in DNH&DD.
Step 02: School updates enrolment details in the PM POSHAN MIS portal.
Step 03: In Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman district, meals are prepared at Centralized Kitchen and delivered to schools.
In Diu district, meals are prepared at Decentralized Kitchen.
Step 04: Children attend school and receive hot cooked, nutritious meals on all working days.
Step 05: School authorities monitor and report meal coverage, quality, and attendance through the MIS portal.
Clarifications
Additional points from the scheme information published on myScheme (not legal advice).
- What is the PM POSHAN Scheme?
PM POSHAN is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Education that provides hot cooked meals to children in Government and Government-aided schools to improve nutritional status, reduce classroom hunger, and encourage regular attendance.
- What type of meals are provided under the scheme?
One hot cooked meal is provided on every school working day. The meal includes food grains, pulses, vegetables, oil/fat, and condiments, meeting prescribed calorie and protein norms.
- What are the nutritional norms under PM POSHAN?
Balvatika/Primary (Classes I–V) as per PM POSHAN norms: • Calories: 450 • Protein: 12 grams Upper Primary (Classes VI–VIII) as per PM POSHAN norms: • Calories: 700 • Protein: 20 grams
- What are the food quantity norms per child per day?
Primary: 1. Food grains: 100 g 2. Pulses: 20 g 3. Vegetables: 50 g 4. Oil & fat: 5 g 5. Salt & condiments: As per need
Upper Primary: 1. Food grains: 150 g 2. Pulses: 30 g 3. Vegetables: 75 g 4. Oil & fat: 7.5 g 5. Salt & condiments: As per need- What is the main objective of the PM POSHAN Scheme?
The scheme aims to improve the nutritional status of school children while encouraging regular school attendance. It supports better learning outcomes and enhances concentration by providing hot, nutritious meals daily. Additionally, the scheme works to reduce malnutrition and anemia among students and promotes social equity by ensuring that all children share a common meal irrespective of background.
- Who prepares the meals in DNH&DD?
-In Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman - Meals are prepared in centralized kitchen & delivered to schools. -In Diu - Meals are prepared in the decentralized kitchen.
- What additional support does PM POSHAN include?
The scheme provides kitchen devices and utensils, strengthens infrastructure, and ensures food safety and hygiene. Meals are monitored by School Management Committees (SMCs), Headmasters, and District Teams, with MIS-based reporting and mandatory tasting before serving. Additionally, Tithi Bhojan is served on festive occasions, school nutrition gardens are established, student health check-ups are conducted under RBSK Scheme by Health Department, and cook cum helpers are trained and supervised.
- How many children and schools are covered under PM POSHAN in DNH&DD?
In Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, the scheme covers all students across all government & government aided schools, ensuring access to nutritious Mid-Day Meals and supporting better health and learning outcomes.
- Who is eligible for the PM POSHAN Scheme?
In DNH&DD, children enrolled in Government schools (Balvatika to Class VIII), Government-aided schools (Class VI to VIII) and Local Body schools are eligible.
- Is there any eligibility criteria?
No. All students are covered, irrespective of background.
- Are students in private or unaided schools eligible?
No. Only children enrolled in Government, Government-aided and local body schools are covered.
- Are children attending Special Training Centres (STCs) or children with special needs under Home-Based Education eligible?
Yes. These children are also eligible for the scheme.
- Do children need to be present at school to receive meals?
Yes. Only children attending school on the day the meal is served are eligible for that day’s meal.
- Is there an application process for PM POSHAN?
No.
- How is a child enrolled in the scheme?
Enrollment in a Government school (Balvatika to VIII) or Government-aided school (VI to VIII) and local body automatically makes the child eligible for meals.
Official links
- https://www.myscheme.gov.in/schemes/pm-poshan-dnhanddd
- https://pmposhan.education.gov.in/Files/Guidelines/2023/Guidelines%20on%20PM%20POSHAN%20SCHEME.pdf
- https://pmposhan.education.gov.in/Files/Cooking_Cost_Revision/Revision%20of%20Material%20Cost_wef-1-may-2025.pdf
- https://pmposhan-mis.education.gov.in/mdm_production/StaticPages/user_manual/Centre_User_manual.pdf
- https://dsel.education.gov.in/scheme/pm-poshan-scheme
- https://pmposhan.education.gov.in/PAB_PM_POSHAN.html
- https://pmposhan.education.gov.in/Files/Right%20to%20information/RTI-document.pdf
References
- Guidelines
- https://pmposhan.education.gov.in/Files/Guidelines/2023/Guidelines%20on%20PM%20POSHAN%20SCHEME.pdf
- Amendments
- https://pmposhan.education.gov.in/Files/Cooking_Cost_Revision/Revision%20of%20Material%20Cost_wef-1-may-2025.pdf
- User Manual
- https://pmposhan-mis.education.gov.in/mdm_production/StaticPages/user_manual/Centre_User_manual.pdf
- Scheme Summary
- https://dsel.education.gov.in/scheme/pm-poshan-scheme
- PAB (Programme Approval Board) Meetings
- https://pmposhan.education.gov.in/PAB_PM_POSHAN.html
- FAQs
- https://pmposhan.education.gov.in/Files/Right%20to%20information/RTI-document.pdf
Apply
Apply nowOpens the official application or programme portal in a new tab. If in doubt, confirm details on the ministry site.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the purpose of Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD is a government welfare initiative designed to support Individual, Individual through benefits related to Education & Learning, financial assistance, subsidies, social welfare, healthcare, education, or livelihood support.
- Who can apply for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Eligibility for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD may depend on factors such as income category, age, gender, occupation, state of residence, social category, and government-defined beneficiary criteria.
- What benefits are offered under Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Benefits under Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD may include financial assistance, subsidies, scholarships, insurance support, healthcare benefits, pension support, training assistance, or welfare services depending on the scheme guidelines.
- Which department manages Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD is managed by Education Department and may be implemented through district offices, online portals, CSC centres, banks, or authorised government agencies.
- Can users apply online for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Yes, eligible applicants may be able to apply online for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD through official government portals, authorised service centres, or digital application systems depending on the implementation process.
- Is Aadhaar mandatory for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Many government schemes may require Aadhaar verification, identity proof, or linked bank account details for beneficiary validation and direct benefit transfer processing.
- Where can users apply for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Applications for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD may be submitted through government departments, official scheme portals, CSC centres, district offices, welfare departments, or authorised service centres.
- What documents may be required for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Applicants may need Aadhaar card, income certificate, residence proof, bank account details, caste certificate, photographs, educational records, or occupation-related documents depending on scheme eligibility requirements.
- Is income certificate required for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Income certificate requirements may vary depending on beneficiary category, subsidy eligibility, and financial assistance criteria defined under Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD.
- Is Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD available in all states?
- No, Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD is primarily available for eligible residents of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu and may be implemented through state government departments and local administrative offices.
- Can residents outside Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu apply for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Eligibility for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD is generally limited to residents of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu unless otherwise specified in the official scheme guidelines.
- Can students apply for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Eligible students studying in recognised institutions may apply for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD depending on educational qualification, category, income limit, and academic eligibility.
- Is scholarship amount provided under Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD may provide scholarship assistance, tuition support, educational reimbursement, or financial aid for eligible students.
- Does Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD provide healthcare or insurance support?
- Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD may provide healthcare assistance, insurance coverage, cashless treatment support, medical reimbursement, or hospital-related benefits depending on the scheme structure.
- Can beneficiaries use Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD at government hospitals?
- Eligible beneficiaries may be able to access services at empanelled hospitals, government healthcare facilities, or authorised healthcare providers depending on scheme participation rules.
- Can CSC centres help users apply for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Many government schemes may be accessible through nearby CSC centres, authorised digital service centres, or welfare facilitation offices.
- How can users check the latest updates for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Users should verify official notifications, department announcements, application deadlines, and eligibility updates through authorised government portals or implementing agencies.
- Are there deadlines for applying to Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Some schemes may operate through fixed application windows, annual registration cycles, or department-specific deadlines depending on scheme implementation policies.
- Can beneficiaries track application status for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD?
- Certain schemes may provide online application tracking, beneficiary verification systems, or status-check facilities through official portals.
- Where can users get help for Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD in Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu?
- Users in Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu may seek assistance through CSC centres, district welfare offices, government departments, agriculture offices, social welfare departments, or authorised facilitation centres.
- Which nearby public services may help with Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman - DNH&DD applications?
- Depending on the scheme, users may require support from Aadhaar centres, CSC centres, banks, hospitals, post offices, or government welfare offices for document verification and application assistance.