Bhubaneswar: Puri district will receive a total allocation of Rs 98.15 crore for mid-day meals, textbooks, and school uniforms for the financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26, School & Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond informed the state assembly on Friday.
In a written reply to a question by Puri MLA Sunil Kumar Mohanty, Minister Gond said that Rs 61.32 crore has been allocated for mid-day meals in Puri district, with Rs 33.94 crore for 2024-25 and Rs 27.38 crore for 2025-26. Expenditure for textbooks will total Rs 7.61 crore Rs 3.84 crore in 2024-25 and Rs 3.77 crore in 2025-26. School uniforms will be funded at Rs 29.22 crore, comprising Rs 14.70 crore in 2024-25 and Rs 14.52 crore in 2025-26.
The minister added that 1,271 schools in Puri district manage their hot-cooked mid-day meals themselves under the PM Poshan and MM Poshan Yojana, while the remaining 783 schools are supported by the Akshaya Patra Foundation Trusts Central Kitchen.
Textbooks are being printed and supplied by the Directorate of Text Book Production and Marketing (TBPM), Bhubaneswar. As per existing guidelines, uniforms are provided through WSHGs and MSME units selected by block-level committees headed by the B.D.O., with the final recommendation approved by the district-level committee chaired by the Collector-cum-Chairman, Samagra Shiksha, Puri, the minister added.
