Uttar Pradesh Increases Honorarium for PM Poshan Cooks

Uttar Pradesh school cooks will receive a salary hike of ₹1,000 starting in the 2026-27 financial year. This raises the monthly honorarium for cooks to ₹3,000. Uttar Pradesh employs about 3.53 lakh cooks, 93 percent of whom are women. They also get ₹500 every year for uniforms through direct bank transfer.

PM Poshan Yojana details

PM Poshan Yojana supports over 1.46 crore students across 1.42 lakh schools in the state. Children get nutritious meals every day. Primary students get 450 calories and upper primary students get 700 calories.

Schools now have kitchen gardens to improve nutrition, with up to ₹5,000 available for their development. Also, 136 centralized kitchens are running across 25 districts to help with food distribution. Departments conduct regular social audits to keep the process clear, with 2,838 audits planned for 2026-27.