Port Blair, Sept.16: Mid Day Meal is one of the flagship programe of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Govt. of India to boost the universalization of Elementary Education. The main objective of the scheme is to address classroom hunger and encouraging poor children belonging to disadvantage group to attend school regularly and to improve the nutritional status of the children enrolled in Primary and Upper Primary stage of all Govt./ Govt. Aided / Local body institutions.

As per norms of MHRD, noon meal is provided to each student on each working day, comprising of rice, dal and vegetables having nutritional value of 450 calories and 12 grms. of protein for Primary and 700 calories and 20 grms. of protein for Upper Primary.

Adding a feather to the scheme this UT Administration, during the year 2012-13 under Supplementary Nutrition Scheme, introduced supply of boiled eggs twice a week and ripened banana once a week to all the students enrolled in Class I-VIII of Govt. / Govt. Aided schools and Local Body educational institutions run by Zilla Parishad and to the students of Pre Primary stage attached to these Institutions.

As of now, when the whole Nation is observing Poshan Abhiyan, a great initiative of Prime Minister of India to boost the health status of all citizens of the country, the Lt. Governor, A&N Administration has been pleased to increase the periodicity of supply of boiled eggs from twice a week to thrice a week and ripened banana from once a week to twice a week w.e.f. Sept. 9, 2019 onwards to improve the nutritional status of all children. 

A total of 35,706 students of Pre-Primary to Upper Primary of Govt. / Govt. Aided schools and Local Body institutions run by Zilla Parishad will be benefitted under the scheme.