The central government of India has announced to provide financial aid to 11.8 Crore children of the nation by Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). This monetary assistance will be from the cooking cost of Mid-day Meal Scheme. The Union Education Minister, Dr. Ramesh pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ has granted approval for this scheme.
This Aid will act as an encouragement to the Mid-day meal scheme as schools are closed since months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Several under privileged children studying in government schools are currently abandoned from getting nutritional meals. Thus, the government has taken a special step for welfare of children.
The scheme is an extension to the government’s announcement for providing free-of-cost 5 kg ration each person per month under the benefits of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY). Providing Cost for meals will help to safeguard the nutritional wellbeing and immunity of children in this tough times of pandemic.
The central government will sanction additional funds of 1200 Crore Rupees to the states and union territories (UTs) administration for this scheme. This welfare moment aims to benefit around 11.8 Crore children for Class 1 to 8 studying in 11.80 Lakh government-Aided schools of the country.
According to the Ministry of Health and wellfare, 13 states are already distributing food grains and ration under the PMGKAY scheme. Each state monthy allocates around 40 lakh metric tonnes of grains under this scheme. The centre will sanction more budget for this scheme as per the requirements of states submitted to the centre.
Several state government like Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, chattisgarh and kerala has also announced to provide financial aid and free education to students who have lost their parents or earners of the family due to COVID-19. The students will be offered a stipend per month till the age of 21 and the state would bear all their education expenses as well.