Lok Sabha Question No. 99 (STARRED), answered on 2022-07-22
Subject: POSHAN Abhiyaan
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Gautham Sigamani Pon, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 99

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.07.2022

## 'POSHAN ABHIYAAN'

- *99      DR. PON GAUTHAM SIGAMANI: SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  recently  launched  PM  POSHAN  Abhiyaan  2022 aiming at   making India malnutrition free and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  achieved  the  objectives  of  POSHAN  Abhiyaan which was   launched in the year 2018, if so, the details thereof and if not, the corrective steps taken          in this regard;
- (c) whether the Government has conducted a detailed study of the performance/impact  of       the  POSHAN  Abhiyaan,  if  so,  the  details  and  the outcome thereof, State/UT-wise;
- (d) whether  less number  of  children,  adolescent girls,  pregnant  women  and lactating      mothers  have  benefited  under  the  POSHAN  Abhiyaan  since  its inception and if so, the  details thereof along with the reasons therefor; and
- (e) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  spread  awareness  about  POSHAN Abhiyaan so that more women could be benefitted?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) to (e)          A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

*****

## Statement referred to in reply to Part (a) to (e) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 99 by Dr. Pon Gautham Sigamani and Shri Gajanan Kirtikar to be answered on 22.07.2022 regarding 'POSHAN Abhiyaan'.

(a) POSHAN  Abhiyaan  was  launched  on  8 th March  2018  with  a  goal  to  reduce malnutrition  in  the  country  in  a  phased  manner,  by  adopting  a  synergised  and  result oriented  approach.   It provides  a  platform  to converge  the  activities of  various stakeholders  for  attaining  the  goal  of  ' Suposhit  Bharat' .     The  goals  of  POSHAN Abhiyaan are to achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children upto 6 years of age,  Adolescent  Girls,  Pregnant  Women  and  Lactating  Mothers through  targeted reduction  of  stunting,  undernutrition,  anemia  and  low-birth  weight.  For  maximizing nutritional  outcomes,  the  efforts  under  Poshan  Abhiyaan,  Supplementary  Nutrition Programme  under  Anganwadi  Services  and  Scheme  for  Adolescent  Girls  have been  re-aligned under  'Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0'

Poshan  2.0  seeks  to  address  the  challenges  of malnutrition in children, adolescent  girls,  pregnant  women  and  lactating  mothers  through  a  strategic  shift  in nutrition  content  and delivery and by creation of a convergent eco-system to develop and promote practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity. 'Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0'  seeks to optimize the quality and delivery of food under the Supplementary Nutrition Program. It will contribute to human capital development of the  country;  address  malnutrition  challenges;  promote  nutrition  awareness  and  good eating habits for sustainable health &  well-being and  address nutrition related deficiencies through key strategies.

(b) The estimated number of underweight, malnourished and severely malnourished children under 5 years of age is obtained under National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted  by  the  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare.  As  per  the  recent  report  of NFHS-5 (2019-21), the nutrition indicators for children under 5 years have improved as compared with NFHS-4 (2015-16). Stunting has reduced from 38.4% to 35.5%, Wasting has  reduced  from  21.0%  to  19.3%  and  Underweight  prevalence  has  reduced  from 35.8% to 32.1%. The State/UT wise prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight among children under five years of age as per National Family Health Survey 5 (NFHS 5) is at Annexure I.

(c) A study was conducted for impact evaluation of POSHAN Abhiyaan, as part of Evaluation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes in Women and Child Development Sector, by  the  Development  Monitoring  &  Evaluation  Office  (DMEO)  of  NITI  Aayog.  Poshan Abhiyan was found to be satisfactory as regards relevance, sustainability and equity.

(d) to (e) The  Abhiyaan  has  provided  a  strong  platform  for  targeted  home  visits, community-based  events  (CBEs)  and  growth  monitoring  with  greater  emphasis   on home visits to promote maternal, infant and young child nutrition practices which have benefited  women  and  children.  Under  POSHAN  Abhiyan,  IT  systems  have  been leveraged  to  strengthen  and  bring  about  transparency  in  nutrition  delivery  support systems.   More  than  10  crore  beneficiaries  (approx)  are  registered  on  the  Poshan Tracker. State/UT wise details of beneficiaries registered are at Annexure II.

Further, an important focus of the POSHAN Abhiyaan has been on 'Behaviour Change Communication'  to  address  inadequate  and  inappropriate  infant  and  young  child feeding practices, nutrition and care during pregnancy and adolescence. The strategy of Jan  Andolan was  developed  to  strengthen  convergent  actions  across  multiple stakeholders.   Community  mobilization  under  the  Jan  Andolan  component  of  the Abhiyaan has helped to reach out to the masses through the nation's biggest nutritioncentric  annual Jan  Andolans  in  the  form  of  Poshan  Maahs  (September)  and  Poshan Pakhwadas  (March).  Frontline  workers,  community  groups,  PRIs,  staff  at  Block  and District  level,  State  departments  and  convergent  Ministries  have  exemplified  diligent work towards triggering Jan Andolan for POSHAN Abhiyaan.

Since the launch of POSHAN Abhiyaan, 4 Poshan Maah and 4 Poshan Pakhwada have been  conducted  involving  around  40+  crore  Jan  Andolan  based  activities.   Poshan Maah 2020 witnessed unprecedented participation by following COVID-19 protocol and around  13.85  crore  Jan  Andolan  activities  were  conducted.  The  fourth  Rashtriya Poshan  Maah  2021  witnessed  20.32  crore activities.The recently held  Poshan Pakhwada  2022  from  21st March-4th April  2022,  witnessed  around  2.96  crore  Jan Andolan based activities. Themes have included overall nutrition, hygiene, water and sanitation, anemia prevention, importance of breast-feeding, growth monitoring, role of Poshan Panchayats,  AYUSH  for Well-being,  Yoga  for  Health,  importance  of  Poshan Vatikas  for  cultivation  of  local  vegetables,  medicinal  plants/herbs  and  fruits  at  the community  level,  Poshan  ke  Paanch  Sutra,   defeat  diarrhea  campaigns,  Nukkad Natak/Folk Shows, etc.

Community  Based  Events  under  Poshan  Abhiyaan  have  served  as  a  significant strategy  in  changing  nutrition  practices.  The  gatherings  serve  as  a  platform  for disseminating essential messages and to counsel pregnant and lactating women, and their families on appropriate nutrition and health behaviour. The events are organised at every Anganwadi centre (AWC) and primarily focus on promotion of maternal nutrition (Godhbharai)  and/  or  initiation  of  appropriate  complementary  feeding  (Annaprasan). About 3.70 crore Community Based Events (CBEs) have also been conducted.

****

Annexure I State/UT wise prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight among children

## under five years of age as per NFHS 5 survey (2019-21)

| State/UT                             |   Children under 5 years who are stunted (%) |   Children under 5 years who are wasted (%) |   Children under 5 years who are underweight (%) |
|--------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------|
| INDIA                                |                                         35.5 |                                        19.3 |                                             32.1 |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands            |                                         22.5 |                                        16   |                                             23.7 |
| Andhra Pradesh                       |                                         31.2 |                                        16.1 |                                             29.6 |
| Arunachal Pradesh                    |                                         28   |                                        13.1 |                                             15.4 |
| Assam                                |                                         35.3 |                                        21.7 |                                             32.8 |
| Bihar                                |                                         42.9 |                                        22.9 |                                             41   |
| Chandigarh                           |                                         25.3 |                                         8.4 |                                             20.6 |
| Chhattisgarh                         |                                         34.6 |                                        18.9 |                                             31.3 |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu |                                         39.4 |                                        21.6 |                                             38.7 |
| Goa                                  |                                         25.8 |                                        19.1 |                                             24   |
| Gujarat                              |                                         39   |                                        25.1 |                                             39.7 |
| Haryana                              |                                         27.5 |                                        11.5 |                                             21.5 |
| Himachal Pradesh                     |                                         30.8 |                                        17.4 |                                             25.5 |
| Jammu & Kashmir                      |                                         26.9 |                                        19   |                                             21   |
| Jharkhand                            |                                         39.6 |                                        22.4 |                                             39.4 |
| Karnataka                            |                                         35.4 |                                        19.5 |                                             32.9 |
| Kerala                               |                                         23.4 |                                        15.8 |                                             19.7 |
| Ladakh                               |                                         30.5 |                                        17.5 |                                             20.4 |
| Lakshadweep                          |                                         32   |                                        17.4 |                                             25.8 |
| Madhya Pradesh                       |                                         35.7 |                                        19   |                                             33   |
| Maharashtra                          |                                         35.2 |                                        25.6 |                                             36.1 |
| Manipur                              |                                         23.4 |                                         9.9 |                                             13.3 |
| Meghalaya                            |                                         46.5 |                                        12.1 |                                             26.6 |
| Mizoram                              |                                         28.9 |                                         9.8 |                                             12.7 |
| Nagaland                             |                                         32.7 |                                        19.1 |                                             26.9 |
| NCT of Delhi                         |                                         30.9 |                                        11.2 |                                             21.8 |
| Odisha                               |                                         31   |                                        18.1 |                                             29.7 |
| Puducherry                           |                                         20   |                                        12.4 |                                             15.3 |
| Punjab                               |                                         24.5 |                                        10.6 |                                             16.9 |
| Rajasthan                            |                                         31.8 |                                        16.8 |                                             27.6 |
| Sikkim                               |                                         22.3 |                                        13.7 |                                             13.1 |
| Tamil Nadu                           |                                         25   |                                        14.6 |                                             22   |
| Telangana                            |                                         33.1 |                                        21.7 |                                             31.8 |

Annexure II State/UT wise number of beneficiaries registered under POSHAN Abhiyaan as on

## 10.07.2022

| State                          | Total Beneficiaries   | Lactating Mothers   | Pregnant Women   | Children 0-6M   | Children 6M-3Y   | Children 3-6Y           | Adolescent Girls   |
|--------------------------------|-----------------------|---------------------|------------------|-----------------|------------------|-------------------------|--------------------|
| Maharashtra                    | 7402755               | 232803              | 573356           | 187181          | 2539297          | 3549246                 | 320872             |
| Delhi                          | 802822                | 46744               | 73990            | 46023           | 394559           | 240777                  | 729                |
| Jharkhand                      | 3417832               | 105100              | 342115           | 71548           | 1259565          | 1433311                 | 206193             |
| Haryana                        | 1480116               | 59227               | 136642           | 27403           | 512216           | 648899                  | 95729              |
| Lakshadweep                    | 4102                  | 121                 | 478              | 83              | 2068             | 1164                    | 188                |
| Andaman & Nicobar              |                       |                     |                  |                 |                  |                         |                    |
| Islands                        | 15792                 | 709                 | 1131             | 630             | 8114             | 5130                    | 78                 |
| Himachal Pradesh               | 554511                | 26336               | 46049            | 22804           | 214443           | 195956                  | 48923              |
| UT- Chandigarh                 | 55460                 | 2941                | 4675             | 2815            | 20573            | 24451                   | 5                  |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli - Daman & |                       |                     |                  |                 |                  |                         |                    |
| Diu                            | 37132                 | 1881                | 5504             | 1950            | 15657            | 12140                   | 0                  |
| Mizoram                        | 125406                | 4385                | 10431            | 3784            | 47211            | 55690                   | 3905               |
| Puducherry                     | 38182                 | 1870                | 4062             | 1489            | 21353            | 9300                    | 108                |
| Sikkim                         | 48209                 | 1757                | 2406             | 1692            | 14051            | 15963                   | 12340              |
| Arunachal Pradesh              | 33167                 | 1398                | 1748             | 1285            | 11927            | 13211                   | 3598               |
| Rajasthan                      | 4845298               | 182644              | 574384           | 107274          | 1933994          | 2029878                 | 17124              |
| J&K                            | 782434                | 32702               | 59088            | 16734           | 308402           | 361850                  | 3658               |
| Gujarat                        | 3968249               | 229661              | 342790           | 219572          | 1638916          | 1510140                 | 27170              |
| Kerala                         | 3103477               | 106122              | 189193           | 87394           | 860820           | 1201365                 | 658583             |
| Tamil Nadu                     | 3726710               | 245305              | 376728           | 224161          | 1767959          | 1112239                 | 318                |
| Telangana                      | 2397140               | 101613              | 220426           | 97455           | 899689           | 852532                  | 225425             |
| Uttarakhand                    | 897613                | 17087               | 85973            | 10403           | 344567           | 332996                  | 106587             |
| Bihar                          | 10989142              | 326080              | 948561           | 208332          | 4078192          | 4992036                 | 435941             |
| Madhya                         |                       |                     |                  |                 |                  |                         |                    |
| Pradesh                        | 8733318               | 437924              | 686678           | 308270          | 3101566          | 3231266                 | 967614             |
| Uttar Pradesh                  | 19611699              | 1144991             | 2104653          | 695103          | 8676145          | 6768990                 | 221817             |
| Tripura                        | 389091                | 14029               | 30823            | 13309           | 134148           | 168380                  | 28402              |
| Assam                          | 4524759               | 128750              | 292725           | 119726          | 1364698          | 1790825                 | 828035             |
| Chhattisgarh                   | 2785103               | 78412               | 212927           | 64900           | 926757           | 1191658                 | 310449             |
| Nagaland                       | 86695                 | 2428                | 4605             | 269             | 24558            | 42661                   | 12174              |
| Manipur                        | 361035                | 10508               | 20741            | 9778            | 107241           | 145297                  | 67470              |
| Meghalaya                      | 468372                | 13295               | 23474            | 9758            | 151694           | 221664                  | 48487              |
| Goa                            | 85266                 | 2679                | 6242             | 1826            | 30661            | 29287                   | 14571              |
| Karnataka                      | 4569878               | 101116              | 502006           | 48393           | 1789267          | 2116366                 | 12730              |
| Andhra                         |                       |                     |                  |                 |                  |                         |                    |
| Pradesh                        | 3362467               | 119862              | 301757           | 88304           | 1202753          | 1258475                 | 391316             |
| Odisha                         | 5138854               | 154886              | 398064           | 179308          | 1604763          | 1844107                 | 957726             |
| Punjab                         | 424385                | 25284               | 42491            | 17864           | 215166           | 112928                  | 10652              |
| Ladakh                         | 19751                 | 841                 | 1193             | 621             | 7956             | 8726                    | 414                |
| West Bengal Total              | 9609457 104895679     | 368018 4329509      | 717806 9345915   | 338920          | 3264537          | 3486939                 | 1433237            |
|                                |                       |                     |                  |                 |                  | 32363613949548341015843 | 7472568            |