Total 674 Children Fell Ill From Contaminated Mid-Day Meals In Five Years: Govt.

The Union Education Ministry has reported that 674 schoolchildren across six states fell ill in 11 incidents of contaminated mid-day meals over the past five years, prompting renewed scrutiny of food safety practices under the PM Poshan Scheme.

In a written reply in Parliament, Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary said that 11 such incidents were recorded over the last five years under the Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM Poshan) Scheme.

According to the government, the incidents occurred in Bihar (3 cases in 2024), Delhi (2 cases in 2023), Odisha (2 cases in 2022 and 2024), Rajasthan (2 cases in 2025), Uttar Pradesh (1 case in 2021) and West Bengal (1 case in 2023). A total of 674 children fell ill, but all were treated and discharged.

Chaudhary said the PM Poshan Scheme, which covers about 11 crore children in more than 10.35 lakh government and government-aided schools, has detailed guidelines to ensure the quality, safety and hygiene of meals. While the Centre funds and frames the guidelines, the responsibility of delivering safe, hot-cooked meals lies with state governments and Union Territory administrations.

For 2025-26, the overall allocation for the scheme amounts to more than Rs 30,000 crore, including the Centre’s contribution of over Rs 21,500 crore. The government has allocated 24.15 lakh metric tonnes of foodgrains for the scheme, costing around Rs 9,000 crore.

The guidelines mandate the use of Agmark-certified ingredients, training for cook-cum-helpers, mandatory tasting of meals by School Management Committee members before serving, and periodic lab testing of food samples to ensure nutritional standards are met. Food Corporation of India has also been directed to supply only fair-average-quality foodgrains.

States and UTs conduct training programmes, cooking competitions and awareness campaigns on nutrition and hygiene. Many also provide supplementary nutrition such as eggs, milk, fruits, millet-based dishes and ragi malt. Schools are encouraged to maintain nutrition gardens to source fresh produce.

Monitoring mechanisms are embedded across all levels, including an Empowered Committee chaired by the Union Education Minister, the Programme Approval Board, state and district-level committees and a district committee led by the senior-most MP. Social audits are conducted in at least 20 schools per district, with 32,664 audits and 25,389 food tests completed so far. Officials have inspected 9.78 lakh schools.

The Minister said that despite a few incidents, states and UTs are required to strictly follow safety norms, and the government continues to strengthen its monitoring and implementation framework to ensure meals served to children are safe, nutritious and of consistent quality.