Balochistan Launches Rs. 1.58 Billion School Meal Program

The Balochistan government is implementing a Rs. 1.58 billion school meal program for primary school students in Quetta as part of wider efforts to tackle nutrition challenges and improve child health.

The project is being launched on a pilot basis and is among several nutrition-focused schemes currently under way in the province. Official documents show the School Meal Program for Students of Primary Schools in Quetta carries a total cost of Rs. 1.579 billion, with Rs. 315.9 million allocated for the current year.

The initiative is part of Balochistan’s broader development push in areas linked to maternal and child health, school nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, and deworming.

Alongside the school meal scheme, the provincial government is also implementing a Comprehensive Maternal and Child Health Program worth Rs. 2 billion, with Rs. 228.8 million allocated during the year.

A separate project focused on providing WASH facilities in schools is also under implementation. That scheme has a total cost of Rs. 2 billion, with Rs. 200 million set aside in the current allocation.

Meanwhile, a Maternal, Newborn and Child Health facility has been established at Eastern Bypass Quetta under a project worth Rs. 400 million, of which Rs. 200 million has been allocated.

These initiatives form part of the provincial government’s wider strategy to improve health and nutrition indicators across Balochistan, with a particular focus on mothers, children, school-based interventions, and sanitation infrastructure.

Officials say the province has identified nutrition, maternal and child health, and school support program as key development priorities as it looks to strengthen public health outcomes in underserved areas.