Odisha: The Odisha government has decided to provide cooked mid-day meals to students of classes 9th and 10th. An official said on Thursday that the state government has decided to provide cooked mid-day meals to students of classes 9th and 10th in state-run schools from April 1.

School and Mass Education Department Additional Secretary SK Mahapatra said that this decision has been taken to increase the nutritional level of the students and to increase enrollment, attendance, and stability at the secondary level.

Expenses will increase by Rs 570.71 crore.

In a letter to Girish Chandra Singh, State Nodal Officer of PM Nutrition, he said that the state government will bear an additional expenditure of Rs 570.71 crore annually to implement this decision.

Three laddus will be available every week.

He said that the government has also decided to provide three nutritious laddus every week to students of classes 1 to 10 from April 1.

Singh, in a letter to district collectors, said the laddus will be distributed to students during morning assembly on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Each laddu costs Rs 3.50, he said.

An additional egg will also be provided to students covered under the PM Poshan Yojana. Currently, two eggs are being provided every week.

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