Lok Sabha Question No. 1532 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-28
Subject: Modalities for POSHAN Abhiyaan
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Anil Firojiya

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION NO. 1532

TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.07.2023

## MODALITIES FOR POSHAN ABHIYAAN

- 1532    SHRI ANIL FIROJIYA

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

- (a) the  details  of  the  modalities  being  followed  the  tackle  nutritional  challenges in the country under the Poshan Abhiyaan, along with the details thereof; and
- (b) the details of various focus areas of the said Abhiyaan for the next few years?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) POSHAN Abhiyaan (which has now been integrated under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0) was launched on 8 th  March 2018 with an  aim  to  achieve  improvement  in  nutritional  status  of  Children  under  6  years, Adolescent Girls (14-18 years), Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner by adopting a synergised and result-oriented approach. The programme makes interventions with the use of technology , behavioural change through convergence and lays-down specific targets to be achieved across different monitoring parameters. The Abhiyaan has been rolled-out in all the 36 States and UTs. It covers all the districts within  the  country  including  112  Aspirational  Districts.  Anganwadi  Workers  (AWWs) have  been  technology  empowered  with  smartphones  (nearly  11  lakh).  To  promote regular  growth  measurement,  12.5  lakh  Growth  Measurement  Devices  have  been procured by States/UTs for Anganwadi Centres. Jan Andolan is carried out through the annual Rashtriya  Poshan  Maah celebrated  in  the  month  of  September  and Poshan Pakhwada celebrated in March at scale across India, wherein more than 60 crore Jan Andolan based activities have been conducted across the country. Moreover, close to 3.70 crore Community Based Events (CBEs) have been conducted under the Abhiyaan, in  the  last  four  years.  The  Community  based  events  are  a  forum  for  disseminating awareness and information about nutritional practices, importance of timely initiation of complementary feeding, right type of complementary feeding etc. Poshan Tracker an IT application was rolled out on 1st March 2021 to monitor near real-time progress under Mission  Poshan  2.0.  Technology  under  the  Poshan  Tracker  is  being  leveraged  for dynamic identification of stunting, wasting and underweight prevalence among children and last mile tracking of nutrition service delivery. Poshan Tracker enables near realtime monitoring on defined indicators. The App also offers counselling videos on key behaviours  and  services  which  help  disseminate  messages  on  birth  preparedness, delivery, post-natal care, breastfeeding and complementary feeding.

13.9 lakh Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) are registered on the Poshan Tracker and 10.11  crore  beneficiaries  (pregnant  women,  lactating  mothers  and  children  up  to  6 years) are registered under Poshan Tracker application out of which 94% are Aadhar seeded.

(b) The  focus  area  of  Poshan  Abhiyan  ,  through  interventions  of  technology, behaviour change and convergence will remain on ' Poshan ke Paanch Sutra' , namely, importance  of  first  1000  days  since  conception  to  2  years  of  the  child,  Anemia awareness  and  prevention,  Diarrohea  Prevention,  Hand-wash  and  sanitation  and Paushtik Aahar'.

Further, POSHAN Abhiyaan has been re-aligned alongwith Anganwadi Services and  Supplementary  Nutrition  Programme,  in  the  umbrella  Mission  as  'Saksham Anganwadi  and  POSHAN  2.0'  or  Mission  Poshan  2.0  for  maximizing  nutritional outcomes. It 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. In order to achieve holistic nutrition among the target groups, the mission focuses on the following, Infant and young child feeding practices (including breastfeeding and complementary nutrition), Maternal and adolescent nutrition, Treatment of malnourished children or children with Severe Acute Malnutrition  (SAM)/Moderate  Acute  Malnutrition  (MAM),  and  Promotion  of  AYUSH practices.

Mission  Poshan  2.0  is  designed  to  address  the  issue  of  malnutrition  through transparency, accountability, balanced diets, diet diversity and quality, greater grassroots involvement and last-mile delivery of services supported by key strategies, viz., corrective strategies to address nutrition related deficiencies, nutrition awareness strategies  to  develop  good  eating  habits  for  sustainable  health  and  well-being, strategies for communication and development of green eco-systems such as Poshan Vatikas  at  or  near  Anganwadi  Centres,  wherever  possible  and  in  Government  led schools and Gram Panchayat lands where benefits can easily be given to women and children.

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