Chandigarh, May 2 -- Around 20% of students in government schools across Punjab missed out on free mid-day meals during the 2024-25 academic year, even as the central government has expressed grave concern about the drop in school enrolment and the coverage of the school meals programme in the state.

Mid-day meals were served to an average of 15.24 lakh children out of a total of 19.1 lakh enrolled in the pre-primary section and elementary classes (1 to 8) in government schools across the state, with 3.85 lakh students missing out on mid-day meals in schools. The number of students who missed out or skipped free school meals was higher in Bal Vatikas (pre-primary) and upper primary (classes 6 to 8) sections.

The pre-primary sections hav...