Events of ADRI Patna
On 20 February 2026, the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) signed an agreement with the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Directorate, Education Department, Government of Bihar, for the third-party evaluation of nearly 100 NGO centralised kitchens providing MDM foods in 38 districts and 5 percent of the associated schools in the state.
The duration of the agreement is for three years. During the period, ADRI will assess the operations and outcomes of the centralized kitchens managed by different NGOs in the state. The evaluation will focus on infrastructural facilities, management practices, food quality, operational requirements, and the perspectives of stakeholders, including teachers, cooks, and students from associated schools, among other parameters. As part of the evaluation exercise, a report card will be generated for each NGO kitchen based on operational parameters, besides giving an overall rating on the level of performance ranging from excellent to worst. The report will assist the MDM Directorate in taking decisions related to renewing the contract of the NGOs, issuing notifications for remedial actions, including improving food quality, and cancelling the existing NGO contract in the wake of their performance against the PM POSHAN guidelines.
Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN), popularly known as the Mid-Day Meal (MDM) program, is the world’s largest school meal programme. It provides free lunches to millions of school children at the primary and upper primary level in either in government or government-aided schools on working days. The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is a critical initiative in India aimed at improving child nutrition and encouraging school attendance and reducing the gender gap. The key objective of this scheme is to bridge gaps in nutrition and educational opportunities for children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Under the guidelines, for primary class children, a hot cooked meal includes 100 grams of food grain (rice, wheat, or nutri-rich cereals), 20 grams of pulses, 50 grams of vegetables, and 5 grams of oil/fat, providing 450 calories and 12 grams of protein. For upper primary class children, the meal consists of 150 grams of food grain (wheat, rice, or nutri-rich cereals), 30 grams of pulses, 75 grams of vegetables, and 7.5 grams of oil/fat, supplying 700 calories and 20 grams of protein.
The PM POSHAN yojana covers 10.76 lakh schools across the country, benefitting 12 crore students, including 1.09 crore in Bihar (71.55 lakh in primary and 37.73 lakh in upper primary).