Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government will serve midday meals to the students of Class-IX and X in the state from 2025-26 academic year.

The School and Mass Education (S&ME) Department has sent a letter in this regard to the State Nodal Officer of PM POSHAN recently.

As per the official communication, the students of Class IX and X in government and government aided secondary schools across Odisha will be served the MDM from 2025-26 academic year.

The state government will spend Rs 570.71 crore annually for this purpose under the Mukhyamantri POSHAN Yojana.

“The state government has approved a proposal for provision of hot cooked midday meals to the students of Class-IX and X in government and government-aided secondary schools from the financial year 2025-26 to increase nutritional level of the students and enhancing the enrollment, attendance and retention of students in schools,” read the letter.

Earlier, the government was providing MDM to students from Class-I to VIII in government and government-aided schools in Odisha.

A couple of months ago, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had announced that the students of Class-IX and X would be included under the MDM programme. 

In a related development, the state government has announced to provide an additional egg to the students under the MDM (PM POSHAN) scheme.

Earlier, the students were being served egg twice in a week.

The students will be served egg thrice in a week from April 1 this year. They will be served egg on Monday, Wednesday and Friday under the PM POSHAN scheme.

Similarly, the state government has announced to provide nutrient-rich laddoos to school students from April 1.

The laddoos will be served to the students from Class-I to Class-X on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.