New Delhi: The Directorate of Education (DoE) on Monday issued an order revising the PM-POSHAN mid-day meal menu for Delhi government schools, announcing that idli with sambar will be introduced within two weeks and other meal items have been replaced or modified with immediate effect.
Changes, timeline and implementation
The DoE directed schools and implementing agencies — including empanelled NGOs and centralised kitchen operators — to put arrangements in place by 24 August. While most substitutions come into force straightaway, idli with sambar has been given a transition period because its preparation demands specialised equipment, ingredients and trained staff, the department said.
The changes stem from recommendations made by the DoE's Meal Review Committee, which assessed the weekly menu, meal coverage, stakeholder feedback and on-ground implementation experience, the order stated.
What students will get: six-day menu
- Day 1: Poori with black chana gravy and mashed vegetables
- Day 2: Idli with sambar (to be operationalised within two weeks)
- Day 3: Rice with chhole and mashed vegetables
- Day 4: Poori with chhole and mashed vegetables
- Day 5: Rice with dal
- Day 6: Rice with kadhi
| Day | Menu |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Poori + black chana gravy + mashed vegetables |
| Day 2 | Idli + sambar (to be introduced by 24 Aug) |
| Day 3 | Rice + chhole + mashed vegetables |
| Day 4 | Poori + chhole + mashed vegetables |
| Day 5 | Rice + dal |
| Day 6 | Rice + kadhi |
Other substitutions and operational notes
The committee has also recommended nutritional substitutions: ragi halwa will be replaced by preparations using wheat flour alongside chana masala, and vegetable daliya will be replaced by dishes featuring jowar and bajra. The DoE clarified that an NGO or a centralised kitchen agency is not obliged to serve an identical item at every school on the same day; choices may vary depending on ingredient availability, logistics and other operational constraints.
For idli with sambar, the DoE allowed a maximum two-week period for empanelled providers to operationalise the item and said no further extension would be ordinarily granted beyond 24 August.
Local impact and readiness challenges
Introducing idli with sambar across a city-wide school system presents practical hurdles: many centralised kitchens or NGOs may lack idli steamers, batter grinders or storage infrastructure specific to fermented batter, and staff may require training in bulk preparation. The DoE's two-week lead time recognises these constraints while setting a firm deadline to ensure students start receiving the new item within the stipulated period.
The move to swap ragi halwa and vegetable daliya with alternatives based on wheat, jowar and bajra has nutrition and procurement implications. Jowar and bajra are locally milled millets but their supply chains and cost structures differ from items previously used, which implementing agencies will need to factor into daily cooking plans.
How schools and agencies have been instructed
- Empanelled NGOs and centralised kitchens must prepare for idli-sambar by 24 August at the latest.
- Day 1 and Days 3–6 menu items are effective immediately.
- Menu choices may vary across schools depending on availability and logistics; uniformity across every school on a given day is not mandated.
The revised menu decision is administrative and aimed at improving meal variety and acceptability while aligning with the Committee's assessment of implementation realities across Delhi's government school system. The DoE order did not publish cost estimates or projected changes in per-meal expenditure in the public order.
Education department officials and implementing NGOs are expected to begin operational adjustments this week to meet the deadline; parents and school management committees will likely receive further operational guidance from their respective schools on meal-day schedules and changes in lunch distribution.
Further details on monitoring, quality checks and complaint redressal mechanisms were not included in the order released on Monday.
