Lok Sabha Question No. 1848 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-29
Subject: Implementation of NNM
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Vellalath Kochukrishnan Nair. Sreekandan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UN-STARRED QUESTION NO. 1848 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.11.2019

## IMPLEMENTATION OF NNM

## 1848 . SHRI V.K. SREEKANDAN :

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  country  is  unlikely  to  meet  the  target  set  under  the  ambitious National  Nutrition  Mission  (NNM)  for  reduction  in  prevalence  of  stunting, underweight, low birth weight and anaemia in women and children by 2022;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the rate of progress required to achieve the desired targets is much higher than the rate at which the programme is being currently implemented; and
- (d) if so, the steps proposed to be taken up by the Government to accelerate the National Nutrition Mission?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT ( SHRIMATI SMRITI  ZUBIN IRANI )

(a)  to  (d)  :Government  is  implementing  POSHAN  Abhiyaan  (earlier  known  as National  Nutrition  Mission  )  since  18 th December  2017  to  address  the  problem  of malnutrition  in  the  country.  To  ensure  a  holistic  approach,  all  districts  of  37 States/UTs  have  been  covered  in  the  Abhiyaan. The  goals  of  POSHAN  Abhiyaan are  to  achieve  improvement  in  nutritional  status  of  Children  from  0-6  years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner during the three years with fixed targets as under:

|   S.No | Objective                                                                                         | Target        |
|--------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|
|      1 | Prevent and reduce Stunting in children (0- 6 years)                                              | By 6% @2%p.a. |
|      2 | Prevent and reduce under-nutrition (underweight prevalence) in children (0-6 years)               | By 6% @2%p.a. |
|      3 | Reduce the prevalence of anemia among young Children(6-59 months)                                 | By 9% @3%p.a. |
|      4 | Reduce the prevalence of anemia among Women and Adolescent Girls in the age group of 15-49 years. | By 9% @3%p.a. |
|      5 | Reduce Low Birth Weight (LBW).                                                                    | By 6% @2%p.a. |

The Abhiyaan aims to reduce malnutrition in the Country in a phased manner, through  a  life  cycle  approach,  by  adopting  a  synergised  and  result  oriented approach. The Abhiyaan will ensure mechanisms for timely service delivery and a robust  monitoring  as  well  as  intervention  infrastructure.  Target  is to  bring  down stunting of the children in the age group of 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% by the year 2022.

The results of the POSHAN Abhiyaan can be known after the programme has completed  its  approved  period.    However,  in  the  meantime,  as  per  the  report  of Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) conducted by UNICEF, prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight among children is 34.7%, 17% and 33.4% respectively, which is an improvement and reduction from the levels reported in National Family Health Survey-4.

Meetings were held with Hon'ble Chief Ministers of 15 States during the last six  months  to  review  the  progress  of  POSHAN  Abhiyaan,  in  which  apart  from  the senior officers of Ministry, representatives of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and NITI  Aayog  also  participated.  National  Council  under  the  Chairmanship  of  Vice Chairman,  NITI  Aayog  and  the  Executive  Committee  under  the  Chairmanship  of Secretary,  Ministry  of  Women  &  Child  Development  (MWCD)  also  monitor  the progress of POSHAN Abhiyaan.   Secretary, MWCD has also reviewed the progress of POSHAN Abhiyaan with the Chief Secretaries of the States during his visits to the States.  Recently, a national conference was organised on 13 th and 14 th November, 2019 with State Secretaries of Women and Child Development for in-depth review of POSHAN  Abhiyaan  and  other  Schemes.  Series  of  Video  Conferences  are  also organized in order to  accelerate the progress of POSHAN Abhiyaan.   Letters are also  sent  regularly  to  Chief  Secretaries/State  Secretaries  of  Women  and  Child Development regarding monitoring and effective implementation  of  POSHAN Abhiyaan.

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