Yogi Government Boosts Honorarium and Cashless Health Insurance for 3.53 Lakh School Cooks

Prayagraj : Prior to Rakshabandhan, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced four key welfare measures for more than 3.53 lakh cooks (rasoiyas) working under the PM Poshan Scheme in Uttar Pradesh. Speaking at an honor ceremony and cashless medical card distribution event at Jupiter Hall, Indira Gandhi Pratishthan, the Chief Minister underlined the state's priority to deliver quality education paired with nutritious meals in government schools.

Key Announcements for School Cooks

Monthly Honorarium Increase: Raised from ₹2,000 to ₹3,000 per month.

Cashless Medical Facility: Health insurance coverage up to ₹5 lakh per year for each cook and their family.

Social Security Support: ₹2 lakh financial assistance provided in the event of an accident.

Dress Allowance Boost: Increased from ₹500 to ₹1,000 per year, delivered via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath symbolically distributed apparel kits—comprising head covers, gloves, and aprons—along with cashless health cards and honorarium checks to cooks arriving from various districts, including Sitapur, Lucknow, Gorakhpur, Aligarh, Varanasi, Hardoi, Lakhimpur Kheri, and Unnao.

Strengthening Nutrition and School Education
Minister of State for Basic Education (Independent Charge) Sandeep Singh highlighted that the PM Poshan Scheme serves around 1.46 crore students across 1.42 lakh primary and upper primary schools in Uttar Pradesh. The program delivers 450 calories and 12 grams of protein at the primary level, and 700 calories with 20 grams of protein at the upper primary level. To complement central guidelines, the state government provides seasonal fruits every Monday, alongside jaggery, chikki, roasted grams, or ramdana laddus every Thursday using state funds.

Approximately 93 percent of the 3.53 lakh cooks in the state are women. The state government previously increased monthly honorariums in 2019–20 and 2022–23 before bringing the total monthly payout to ₹3,000.

To ensure food quality, hygiene, and proper preparation standards, cooks undergo structured training using the 'Poshan Film' module. The state also holds district-level culinary competitions awarding prizes of ₹3,500 (1st), ₹2,500 (2nd), and ₹1,500 (3rd). By the 2026–27 session, these culinary contests will expand across all development blocks, engaging an estimated 22,000 cooks.

Monitoring and supervisory operations are directed by District Magistrate-led task forces, backed by the 'Maa' campaign and automated IVR daily tracking systems. Meanwhile, central kitchen models operated by the Akshaya Patra Foundation continue to expand warm meal distribution across urban clusters in Varanasi and Gorakhpur.

Dignitaries present at the event included Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, Minister Sandeep Singh, MLA Neeraj Bora, MLCs Eng. Avaneesh Kumar Singh and Ramchandra Pradhan, ACS Basic and Secondary Education Parth Sarthi Sen Sharma, SBI Chief General Manager Dipesh Raj, and Advisor to the CM Awanish Awasthi.

(Report by Zainul Abdin)