Kolkata, Dec. 25 -- The number of schools covered under the Centre's flagship Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PMPSN) scheme that provides mid day meals to students, has declined steadily from 11.19 lakh in 2020-21 to 10.35 lakh in 2024-25 - a net reduction of 84,453 schools in the past five years, reveal data shared by the Union education ministry in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

According to data, several BJP-ruled states have seen the highest decline in the number of schools under this programme. For example, Uttar Pradesh has seen a decline of 26,000 schools, while in Trinamool-ruled Bengal, the number declined by 2,156.

There were 83,945 schools under this programme in Bengal in 2020-21 but in 2024-25 the figure dropped to 81,789.

In Uttar Pradesh there were 1.67 lakh schools under this programme in 2020-21 and the figure declined to 1.41 lakh in 2024-25. In BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh, the number of schools under this programme dropped by 24,704 in the past five years. In 2021-22, Madhya Pradesh had 1.12 lakh schools under the PMPSN and the number dropped to 84,453 in 2024-25. Assam too saw a significant drop, from 53,427 to 44,106 schools - down 9,321.

The PMPSN scheme, a centrally sponsored programme implemented with states and Union Territories (UTs), provides one hot cooked meal to children in pre-Class 1 and Classes 1 to 8 of government and government-aided schools across the country.

Centre did not specify the reasons for the decline but the minister in Parliament claimed that overall responsibility for providing hot cooked and nutritious meals to the eligible children lies with the state governments and UT administrations.

State Minister for Women and Child Development and Social Welfare Shashi Panja, on repeated occasions in the past, alleged that the Centre stopped providing dues to the state under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme as a result the state government had to bear the funds utilised for foods served to the children and pregnant mothers. She had also alleged that several ICDS Centres are in shambles due to the apathy of the Central government.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.