Lok Sabha Question No. 3771 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-11
Subject: ICDS Programme
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: M. P. Abdussamad Samadani

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3771 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.08.2023

## ICDS PROGRAMME

## 3771.  DR. M.P. ABDUSSAMAD SAMADANI:

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

- (a) whether the Integrated Child Development  Service (ICDS)  programme addresses the present malnutrition issues all over the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Government have conducted any study regarding this and if so, the details and the findings thereof;
- (c) whether the project is having several mismatches between the programme's design and its actual implementation that prevent it reaching its potential to address the issue of malnutrition;
- (d) whether the Government has undertaken any new studies to reform existing nutrition programmes or introduce new ones; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (e)    In  order  to  maximize  nutritional  outcomes,  the  Anganwadi  Services (erstwhile ICDS Scheme), Scheme for Adolescent Girls and Poshan Abhiyaan have been re-aligned under 'Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0' (Mission Poshan 2.0) 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. The Mission is implemented throughout the country.

In order to monitor the implementation of Mission Poshan 2.0, Government has leveraged technology in the form of an ICT application, viz., Poshan Tracker, which provides  near  real  time  progress  under  the  Mission.  Poshan  Tracker  is  being leveraged for dynamic identification of stunting, wasting and underweight prevalence among children and last mile tracking of nutrition service delivery. The application also offers  counselling  videos  on  key  behaviours  and  services  which  help  disseminate messages  on  birth  preparedness,  delivery,  post-natal  care,  breastfeeding  and complementary feeding. The system enables near real-time monitoring of all AWCs, AWWs and beneficiaries on the defined indicators. Beneficiary Redressal Mechanism is an integral part of Poshan 2.0. Poshan Tracker has a web based and an application based  facility  to  raise  concerns  /  grievances.  Further,  a  Poshan  Helpline  (14408) operationalised  in  November  2022  has  been  made  available  for  beneficiaries  to register concerns / queries on the services offered under Mission Poshan 2.0.

Poshan 2.0 focuses on Maternal Nutrition,  Infant  and  Young  Child  Feeding Norms, Treatment of MAM/SAM and Wellness through AYUSH. It rests on the pillars of Convergence, Governance, and Capacity-building. Under Poshan 2.0, focus is on diet  diversity,  food  fortification,  leveraging  traditional  systems  of  knowledge  and popularizing use of millets. Nutrition awareness strategies under Poshan 2.0 aim to develop  sustainable  health  and  well-being  through  regional  meal  plans  to  bridge dietary gaps. Further, greater emphasis is being given on the use of millets (coarse grains) for preparation of Hot Cooked Meal and Take Home rations (not raw ration) at Anganwadi centres for Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers and Children below 6 years of age, as millets have high nutrient content that can help to address anemia and other micro-nutrient deficiencies in women and children. Under Supplementary Nutrition Programme of Mission Poshan 2.0, only fortified rice is being allocated to States/UTs.

Development Monitoring & Evaluation Office (DMEO) under NITI Aayog has conducted  Sectoral  Evaluation  of  schemes  including  POSHAN  Abhiyaan,  wherein performance  of  the  scheme  was  found  satisfactory  in  criterions  of  Relevance, Sustainability  and  Equity.  NITI  Aayog  assessed  the  implementation  of  POSHAN Abhiyaan since its inception and came out with the following key findings:

-  Poshan Abhiyaan has helped to bring a strong focus on improving nutrition outcomes during the first 1,000 days.
-  It has enabled a nation-wide Jan-andolan catalysing nutrition related behaviour change at scale for positive impact on feeding and healthcare practices.
-  The Abhiyaan has 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  supported  the  resilience  of  health  and  nutrition  systems during Covid-19 pandemic.

The data on nutritional indicators is captured under the National Family Health Surveys (NFHS) conducted periodically by the Ministry of Health and 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%. However, as per data recorded in Poshan Tracker, ICT application for Mission Poshan 2.0, close to 7 crore children  were  measured  in  the  country  in  the  June  2023,  as  per  which,  7%  were wasted and 19% underweight, which is significantly lower than NFHS indicators.

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