Puducherry

Entitlements

BreakfastShri Rajiv Gandhi Breakfast Scheme since 2002 provides hot milk and biscuits Midday Meal Scheme

The Midday Meal Scheme has been implemented in the Union Territory since the days of the French administration in the 1930s.

Further, the midday meals are provided to the school children for a period of minimum 200 days approximately in a year. There are 12 central kitchens and 86 school canteen centres. The food and non-food items are supplied by state-run cooperatives and self-help groups without any NGOs or private players. Apart from rice, sambhar and vegetables, boiled eggs are served weekly twice and daily for children from std VI to XII.

Shri Rajiv Gandhi Evening Milk Scheme

The Union Territory is the only one in the country to provide hot milk additionally in the evening for all school children and those in pre-primary anganwadis

Eligibility

All three food schemes are available to all students from pre-primary to Std X in government and government aided private schools. In addition, the evening milk scheme is also serevd to thsoe in anganwadis.

Impact

The Government states that the dropout ratio has drastically reduced to nil in primary level and 5 percent in the upper primary level due to the implementation of these food schemes. The per-capita expenditure on Midday Meal Scheme in Puducherry is the highest in the whole of India.