Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The Programme Approval Board (PAB) for the PM POSHAN Scheme has expressed concern over the failure of a significant number of food samples to meet the prescribed nutritional standards in Assam. Midday meals for schoolchildren in the state are provided under the PM POSHAN scheme.
The issue came up during a recent PAB meeting to review and approve the Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) for 2026-27 under the PM POSHAN Scheme.
The virtual meeting was held under the Department of School Education and Literacy, Government of India. Officials reviewed Assam’s performance under the school meal programme and assessed its implementation across key operational areas.
According to the PAB, out of 268 food samples tested across the state, 64 samples failed to meet the prescribed nutrition norms, representing nearly 24 per cent of the total samples examined. The situation was particularly alarming in the districts of Charaideo, Cachar and Morigaon, where more than 30 per cent of the tested samples failed to comply with the required standards. In this context, the Board directed the state authorities to conduct follow-up testing and strengthen monitoring mechanisms in districts reporting higher rates of sample failures.
State representatives informed the Board that most of the failed samples were linked to poor-quality food grains supplied for the scheme.
The Board observed that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is mandated to provide at least “fair average quality” food grains for PM POSHAN. It also noted that the scheme guidelines provide for joint inspections during the lifting of food grains from FCI godowns.
The Board advised the Assam government to take up the issue of poor-quality food grains with the FCI, ensure joint inspections at the time of lifting stocks from FCI warehouses, and ensure that only fair-average-quality food grains are supplied under the scheme.
Moreover, the PAB advised the state government to ensure an uninterrupted supply of hot cooked meals to all eligible students on all school days as per the provisions of the PM POSHAN scheme, even in case of delay in the release of funds, food grain supply constraints or any other reasons.
The state government was further advised to follow Scheme guidelines for all components, e.g., provision of meals, engagement of cook-cum-helpers, Tithi Bhojan, School Nutrition Gardens, testing of meals, tasting of meals, social audit, centralised kitchen, training of cook-cum-helpers, meetings of various committees at appropriate levels for monitoring purposes, etc. in the implementation of the Scheme. The state government was also advised to disseminate the approvals of the resources to all the field functionaries in the state and districts to enable all the eligible institutions to ensure that every eligible student is served a hot cooked meal or provided with a food security allowance on all school days.
The PM POSHAN Scheme is one of the country’s largest school nutrition programmes, providing cooked meals to students in government and government-aided schools to improve nutrition, attendance and learning outcomes. The Board’s observations are expected to prompt stricter quality control measures in Assam’s implementation of the scheme.
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