Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government today constituted a committee to look into the nutritional requirements of students covered under the PM POSHAN scheme.

The committee will recommend necessary proposals for better implementation of the scheme in the state, the School and Mass Education (S&ME) department said in a notification today.

State nodal officer, PM POSHAN, Odisha has been appointed as the chairman of the committee.

Representatives from the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad and the World Food Program were included as members of the committee.

Likewise, the representative of Health and the Family Welfare Department and the Director of Secondary Education in Odisha have been appointed as members of the committee.

In related developments, the Center has revised the material costs of mid-day meals (MDM) under PM POSHAN scheme to 74 paise and Rs 1.12 for primary and upper primary students, respectively.

With this, the material cost of midday meals was increased from Rs 5.45 to Rs 6.19 per student of Bal Vatika and primary and from Rs 8.17 to Rs 9.29 per student of upper primary.

Students of classes I to VIII are provided with a hot cooked meal under the PM POSHAN scheme.

It is worth mentioning here that the state government had announced an increase of Rs 1 in the cost of MDM in Odisha a few days ago.