Right to Food Campaign Demands Roll-Back of Advisory on Cutting Oil in PM-POSHAN Scheme

New Delhi: The Right to Food Campaign (RFC) has condemned the Centre’s move to cut down oil by 10% in the government school mid-day meal (MDM) or PM-Poshan programme under the anti-obesity drive launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Calling for immediate withdrawal of the circulars sent to state governments on March 15, RFC said in a statement that government should first undertake a national survey to “understand the nutritional status” of government school children, especially after the pandemic fallout.

“We hold that the sweeping statements by the Prime Minister and Ministry of Education, dismissing a significant food group from the menu of children in government schools and without evidence or due process of consultation, is irresponsible and arbitrary,” the RFC, an umbrella of public health, food rights, social activists and individuals, said.

It said an “advisory issued on 15th March 2025 by the Union Ministry of Education, states that “the passage of time has resulted in more sedentary lifestyles and a rapid shift away from traditional diets to consumption of sugary drinks and processed foods”, and then recommends, not control over sugary drinks or processed foods, but a blanket reduction in the usage of cooking oil by 10% in the PM POSHAN Scheme implemented in all the Government and Government-Aided Schools across India. It further instructs that all the Cook-cum-Helpers must be trained to reduce the usage of cooking oil by 10% in all meals served under the POSHAN ABHIYAN. There is no mention of improving the nutritional quality or the diversity of items included in the menu.”

It said fats were essential nutrients, required for healthy cell membranes and brain cells, producing hormones such as testosterone and estrogen and regulating immunity, inflammation, and metabolism.

“The brain is comprised of approximately 60% fat. They are a concentrated source of energy, especially for the myocardium, and supply more than twice the energy furnished by proteins or carbohydrates per unit weight,” adding that adding oils and fats to the meals of children in the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres (NRC) help children with growth faltering to catch up.

Read the full statement below:

We oppose the unscientific push to reduce oil consumption in the PM-POSHAN scheme (school meals).

We demand higher allocations for the PM-POSHAN scheme towards ensuring that the school meals include eggs, fruits, vegetables, milk and other nutritious items.

We demand strong regulatory measures towards reducing the sale and consumption of ultra-processed foods and foods high in trans-fats, salt, and sugar which are major contributors to obesity

An advisory issued on 15th March 2025 by the Union Ministry of Education states that “the passage of time has resulted in more sedentary lifestyles and a rapid shift away from traditional diets to consumption of sugary drinks and processed foods”, and then recommends, not control over sugary drinks or processed foods, but a blanket reduction in the usage of cooking oil by 10% in the PM POSHAN Scheme implemented in all the Government and Government-Aided Schools across India. It further instructs that all the Cook-cum-Helpers must be trained to reduce the usage of cooking oil by 10% in all meals served under the POSHAN ABHIYAN. There is no mention of improving the nutritional quality or the diversity of items included in the menu.

Has undernutrition disappeared from India?

This advisory comes on the heels of a statement by the Prime Minister expressing ‘concern’ that childhood obesity is increasing among school children in India (quoting numbers from a Lancet article). It is of note that the government vehemently rejects international reports such as the Global Hunger Index but readily quotes obesity statistics from a Lancet report while ignoring compelling data on malnutrition in national surveys.

The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS 2016-18) shows that 24% of adolescents aged 10-19 years (school-age children) were below -2 SD (or moderately underweight) and 6.5% were below -3 SD (or severely underweight). 4.8% of children in this age group were above +1SD (or overweight) and only 1% of children were above +2SD (or obese). The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5 2019-21) showed that 36% of children under age five are stunted, 32% are underweight and 3% are overweight. Why are the large number of children who are underweight and stunted being ignored? It appears like obesity is just an excuse to further cut the already abysmal budgets for the mid day meal scheme. The cost norms for school meals are inadequate to provide a balanced, nutritious, and fresh meal to children. Moreover, the budgetary allocations by the Union Government have reduced by 40% in real terms, in the last ten years.

Fats and oils are crucial in the diet

We hold that the sweeping statements by the Prime Minister and Ministry of Education, dismissing a significant food group from the menu of children in government schools and without evidence or due process of consultation, is irresponsible and arbitrary. Fats and oils are lipids comprising an important food group, with the former being solid at room temperature and the latter liquid. Fats are essential nutrients, required for healthy cell membranes and brain cells, producing hormones such as testosterone and estrogen and regulating immunity, inflammation, and metabolism. The brain is comprised of approximately 60% fat. They are a concentrated source of energy, especially for the myocardium, and supply more than twice the energy furnished by proteins or carbohydrates per unit weight. They increase the palatability of food, reduce the stomach emptying time, and are a source of essential fatty acids (linoleic and alpha-linolenic fatty acids). Dietary fat is a component of all cells in the body and necessary for the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K), for gastric emptying, digestion, and satiety.  Fats and oils should contribute about 25-30% of the total calories we consume and visible fat/oil intake should be about 15-25 grams/day. The current mid-day meal norms suggest the addition of 5ml of oil for children in primary schools and 7.5ml for children in upper primary schools barely meets one-third of the daily requirement and it is fairly unlikely that the children, especially from the poorer socio-economic groups will receive the remainder during the rest of the day. Moreover, field reports suggest that even this is not ensured given the rising prices and inadequate budgets.

In fact, adding oils and fats to the meals of children in the Nutritional Rehabilitation Centres (NRC) help children with growth faltering to catch up.

We need more not less healthy fats and oils for children

In our experience, there are barriers for poorer communities to meet the recommended intake of fats and oils. Children and adolescents may therefore need to be consuming more, not less fats and oils, in most parts of the country.

Children enrolled in government schools in many states are already being denied nutritious foods based on one propaganda or the other - some refuse to provide eggs ignoring their crucial role in improving nutritional status, others feel outraged about meat, vegans want to eliminate milk and now even the minuscule amounts of fats and oils are being irrationally targeted. Additionally, the fact that Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is pushing for plant-based foods, has supported these global projections on obesity, shows a conflict of interest.

The government should ideally have conducted a national survey on the current nutritional intake and status before making any recommendations what people should or should not eat.. Many families have shown a decrease in food consumption following COVID-19 and its economic fallouts. The government should have in fact, urgently been making arrangements to increase the consumption of nutrient-dense foods and fats/oils to prevent both acute and long-term adverse nutritional outcomes.

There is no data whatsoever on the diversity of the mid-day meals and whether oil is actually being added to the food and if so, how much. Where is the evidence that schools, which are already struggling with inadequate budgets are generously drizzling expensive oil onto children's food plates? In fact, attempts are underway to make food bland, tasteless, removed from local cultures, corporate dependent and nutritionally inadequate. Rather than speak on behalf of these hungry and malnourished children, the powers that be attempt to take away even the minimal food groups that are currently being provided.

Evidence shows that some of the biggest risk factors for obesity are excessive consumption of carbohydrate-dense, high sugar, trans fats, and high salt ultra-processed foods . It is this that should be ‘targeted’ not the mid-day meal scheme. Biscuits are often used as weaning foods. The government has turned a deaf ear for almost a decade, to repeated demands for Front of Pack warning labels and regulation of the marketing, advertisement or consumption of company sponsored processed foods.

The advisory to target, through reducing by 10%, even whatever little fats and oils children in government schools are being provided, focusing on obesity at the cost of underweight children of the country and ignoring the role of the food industry shows how little children's well-being matters to those in power.

The Right to Food Campaign demands the following:

• Immediate withdrawal of the advisory to cut down oils by 10% in the school MDM program and a circular to States to halt any actions undertaken on the same. A national survey should be conducted on an urgent basis to understand nutritional intake and current nutritional status, especially post pandemic effects.
• Policy-level decisions should be made based on the survey findings, in consultation with multiple stakeholders, and referring to updated evidence. Unilateral, knee-jerk, arbitrary one-size-fits-all diktats cannot become the defacto response to such important issues as nutrition. Food-related, or for that matter, any policy decision cannot be made by one individual even if they may be the Prime Minister of the country.
• Committees must be established that have the required expertise, adequate representation by marginalised communities and mandate to consult widely before making technical recommendations. These should work strictly without financial conflict of interest in decision-making and barring representation from food processing multinationals. Sound nutritional principles must to be followed in the planning of the MDM rather than ideology, politics, and market considerations.
• All efforts are to be made to increase (not decrease) dietary diversity promoting local produce and nutritionally-sound cultural preferences including animal-based sources of food. Budgets should be enhanced to allow for increased dietary diversity given the rising costs of fruits, vegetables, pulses, eggs, milk, meat, fish, oils/fats, etc.

This statement has been drafted by the Right to Food Campaign with specific inputs by Dr. Sylvia Karpagam from Ahara Namma Hakku

On behalf of the Steering Committee of the Right to Food Campaign:

National Networks:

Aysha and Gangaram Paikra (Conveners- Steering committee), Kavita Srivastava (People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Anjali Bhardwaj (National Campaign for the People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) and Satark Nagrik Sangathan), Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey and Shankar Singh (Mazdoor Kisaan Shakti Sangathan, National Campaign for the People’s Right to Information (NCPRI), SR Abhiyan, Jan Sarokar, Pension Parishad), Annie Raja and Koninika Ray (National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), Colin Gonsalves (Human Rights Law Network (HRLN), Anuradha Talwar (Pashchim Banga Khet Majdoor Samity (PBKMS), Mira Shiva and Chandrakant (Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), Asmi Sharma (Jan Sarokar), Nancy Pathak (Pension Parishad), Richa Singh, Ashish Ranjan and Arundhati Dhuru (National Alliance for People’s Movement (NAPM), Asha Mishra and Kashinath Chatterjee (Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS), S.Q. Masood (Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan), Arun Kumar (Jharkhand Viklang Manch), Anuradha Talwar and Gautam Modi (New Trade Union Initiative), Subhash Bhatnagar (National Campaign Committee for Unorganised Sector Workers (NCC-USW), Sandhya Gautam (National Alliance for Maternal Health and Human Rights (NAMHHR).

State Representatives

Amrita Johri (Delhi), Sunita Singh, Kanhaiya Lal, Mamta, Ajay Sharma and Shabeena Mumtaz (Uttar Pradesh), Sameet Panda, Rajkishore Mishra and Bidyut Mohanty (Odisha), Sangeeta Sahu, Vipul Paikra, and Narendra Kumar Das (Chhattisgarh), Mukta Srivastava, Ulka Mahajan, Chandrakant Yadav and Shabbir Deshmukh (Maharashtra), Abhay, Sharada Gopal (Karnataka), Ashrafi Nand Prasad, James Herenj, Afzal Anis and Taramani Sahu, Dheeraj (Jharkhand), Fr. Jothi SJ and Tapojay (West Bengal), Anjali Acharya (Madhya Pradesh), Nesar Ahmad and Shyam Lal Maneriya (Rajasthan), Ritwij (Bihar), Tarulata and Sejal Dand (Gujarat).

Individual Representatives

Aditya Srivastava, Biraj Patnaik, Dipa Sinha, Swati Narayan, Veena Shatrugna and Vandana Prasad.