Chandigarh, November 5, 2025 – The Punjab government has extended its Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) to include children in Upper Kindergarten (UKG) classes, providing nutrition to nearly 1.95 lakh students who were previously outside the program.
The expansion, introduced in September 2023, is part of a broader effort by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s administration to improve child nutrition while creating employment opportunities for women in rural communities. About 44,301 women currently work as Mid-Day Meal cooks across the state, many from economically disadvantaged households, earning an honorarium of roughly ₹3,000 per month.
Advocate Harjeet Singh, a government official familiar with the program, noted that early childhood nutrition is critical for cognitive development and learning outcomes. “The mid-day meal is often the most nutritious food a child receives in rural areas,” he said.
Since January 2024, the scheme has introduced weekly seasonal fruits such as bananas, kinnow, and carrots, sourced locally to support farmers and diversify children’s diets. In November 2025, a new weekly menu, developed by nutrition experts, was rolled out to ensure meals meet children’s protein, vitamin, and mineral requirements.
The government is also considering a Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme, modeled on Tamil Nadu, to provide morning meals for primary school children. The proposal, currently under Cabinet review, is expected to expand employment for women cooks and address the issue of children attending school on an empty stomach.
For many women, including 58-year-old Harjeet Kaur from rural Mansa, the program is more than employment. “I’ve been cooking here for 27 years. The children call me ‘School Mother,’ and seeing them grow gives me purpose,” she said. Across Punjab, these women feed over 17 lakh children daily, forming the backbone of one of the state’s largest social welfare initiatives.
