Archive · 19 Dec 2025
Mid-day meal scheme coverage drops by 84,400 schools in five years
The number of schools providing free lunches to students through the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman scheme has decreased by 84,453 over the past five years.
This means fewer schools are offering these meals now compared to before.
The biggest drop happened between 2020 and 2021.
Some states, like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Assam, saw the most schools stop providing these meals.
The government says that even though fewer schools are participating, many students still get meals.
They also mentioned that the cost of making these meals has gone up, and more money has been set aside for the program in the next budget.
The number of schools covered under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman scheme declined from 11.1 lakh in 2020-21 to 10.3 lakh in 2024-25, a reduction of 84,453 schools.
The sharpest decline occurred between 2020-21 and 2021-22, with 35,574 schools dropping out of the scheme.
Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Assam saw the most significant reductions in school coverage.
The Union government increased the material cost for midday meals and allocated Rs 12,500 crore for the scheme in the 2025-26 budget.
There has been a steady decline in the number of government schools over the past six years, with Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, and Karnataka seeing the highest number of school closures in 2024-25.
- Who
- Union government, state governments, Union Territories
- What
- Decline in the number of schools covered under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman scheme
- When
- Over five years (2020-21 to 2024-25)
- Where
- India, with significant declines in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Assam
- Why
- The overall responsibility for providing meals lies with state governments and Union Territories, and there has been a steady decline in the number of government schools
- Total schools covered (2020-21)
- 11.1 lakh
- Total schools covered (2024-25)
- 10.3 lakh
- Reduction in schools
- 84,453
- States with steepest decline
- Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam
- Meals served per year
- 220 days
- Students enrolled
- 11 crore
- Students availing meals
- 8.5 crore
- Budget allocation (2024-25)
- Rs 12,467.3 crore (revised to Rs 10,000 crore)
- Budget allocation (2025-26)
- Rs 12,500 crore
- Expenditure by February 2025
- Rs 5,421.9 crore
