Learning from the world: How global best practices can strengthen PM- POSHAN scheme

Abstract

India’s PM-POSHAN (Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman Yojana), formerly known as the Mid Day Meal Scheme, is one of the world’s largest school feeding programs. The aim of this scheme is to provide nutritious meals to children in schools, thereby addressing the issue of malnutrition and improving school attendance as well as learning outcomes. However, the scheme still faces challenges such as transparency, quality control, and regional disparities. The primary objective of this research is to study successful school meal programs implemented globally such as Brazil’s Programa Nacional de Alimentacao Escolar (PNAE), the USA’s National School Lunch Program (NSLP), Japan’s Shokuiku (Food Education Program), Finland’s Free School Meal Program, and Kenya’s Home-Grown School Feeding Program (HGSF) in order to understand how their best practices can make India’s PM-POSHAN scheme more effective, inclusive, and sustainable. The study’s methodology includes literature review, case study analysis, and comparative study. The findings suggest that if India adopts measures such as local farmer participation, nutrition education, universal access, and robust monitoring systems, the scheme could become even more successful for both children's health and education.