Lok Sabha Question No. 2681 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-04
Subject: POSHAN Abhiyaan in Himachal Pradesh
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Pratibha Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2681 TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.08.2023

## POSHAN ABHIYAAN IN HIMACHAL PRADESH

## 2681    SHRIMATI PRATIBHA SINGH:

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

- (a) whether the Government has been able to achieve the objectives of POSHAN Abhiyaan in Himachal Pradesh, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (b) the details of funds released to the State of Himachal Pradesh from April, 2020 to June, 2023 under POSHAN Abhiyaan and Mission Shakti Scheme;
- (c) the number of Anganwadi Centres in Himachal Pradesh wherein POSHAN Abhiyaan scheme is being implemented, district-wise; and
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  study  on  the  results  of  this scheme in Himachal Pradesh, if so, the details and the outcome thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a)    POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched on 8 th  March 2018 with an aim to achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children under 6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach. The Abhiyaan has been rolled-out in all the States and UTs, including  all  districts  of  Himachal  Pradesh.  The  Abhiyan  seeks  to  address  the challenge of malnutirion with interventions through technology, behaviour change and convergence. Under the Abhiyan, 20,725 smartphones and 19280 Growth monitoring devices, such as infantometer, stadiometer, weighing scale etc have been provided to all Anganwadi Centres of Himachal Pradesh.

18,925  Anganwadi Centres  of  Himachal  Pradesh  are  registered  on  Poshan Tracker,  the  ICT  application  developed  for  monitoring  nutrition  status  and  service delivery under the Mission. More than 5.12 lakh beneficiaries are registered, out of which 96.13% are Aadhar-seeded.

For  estimating  the  number  of  underweight,  malnourished  and  severely malnourished children under 5 years of age in the country a nationwide periodic survey is  being  conducted  by  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family Welfare  which  is  known  as  the National Family Health Survey (NFHS). As per the recent report of NFHS-5 (2019-21), the children under the age of 5 years, in Himachal Pradesh, who are wasted is 17.4% and underweight is 25.5%. As per data recorded in Poshan Tracker, ICT application for Mission Poshan 2.0, close to 3.68 lakh children under the age of 5 years were measured in the State in June 2023 of which, 2% were wasted and 7% underweight, which is significantly lower than NFHS indicators.

(b)   An  amount  of  Rs.194.38  lakh  has  been  released  to  Himachal  Pradesh  under POSHAN Abhiyaan for the period from April, 2020 to June, 2023. Mission Shakti was launched in 2021-22 for the 15th Finance Commission period. The funds released under various components of Mission Shakti to State of Himachal Pradesh from FY 21-22 to June 2023 is Rs 4186.02 lakh

(c)   The district wise details of number of Anganwadi Centres in Himachal Pradesh wherein  POSHAN Abhiyaan scheme is being implemented is at Annexure I .

(d)   NITI Aayog was mandated to conduct monitoring and evaluation periodically to assess  the  progress  and  impact  of  the  programme.   NITI  Aayog  assessed  the implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan since its inception and the key findings are as follows:

-  Poshan Abhiyaan has helped to bring a strong focus on improving nutrition outcomes during the first 1,000 days.
-  Nation-wide  Jan  Andolan  under  Poshan  Abhiyaan  has  catalysed  nutrition related behaviour change at scale for positive impact on feeding and health care practices.
-  Poshan Abhiyaan demonstrated that the processes for inter-sectoral convergence  are  effectively  operationalized  through  in  place  institutional mechanisms at multiple levels.
-  Poshan  Abhiyaan  showed  that  technology  can  be  leveraged  for  real  time monitoring of large-scale health and nutrition programmes.
-  Poshan Abhiyaan has supported the resilience of health and nutrition systems during covid-19 pandemic.

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Annexure I

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