PM POSHAN Fostering Nutrition and Education of School Children: A Perspective of Parents

Abstract

PM POSHAN erstwhile Mid-Day Meal Program, is one of the world’s largest nutritional programs running across India, supports nutritional and educational baggage of children from poor households. It helped to ensure their education, health, and nutrition as well. Though the scheme was not universally operational when introduced, it has now been operationalized in all government schools across the country. Aiming to increase school enrollment and attendance of poor children, the nutritional support and other facilities provided under the scheme have motivated the target children to a greater extent. Besides the benefits of the scheme, parents’ perception is an important factor in deciding childrens’ enrolment in the school and their daily attendance as well. Concerning this, the present study explored the perceptions of the parents of the children benefiting from PM POSHAN. Using the interview schedule, the data was collected from a total of 100 sample respondents, which were randomly selected from four blocks of Jammu district, which were Gandhi Nagar, Satwari, Miran Sahib, and R.S. Pura in accordance with the pre-defined sample criteria. From the parents’ perspective, the government must ensure sufficient manpower for the proper functioning of the scheme, as it has significantly improved the health of the children. Moreover, they perceive the quality of the food as moderate and suggested improving its variety also. It was concluded that the concerned authorities must ensure the active participation of the beneficiaries’ parents and also to apply a holistic approach for the scheme to be functionalized to a much better extent.