Lok Sabha Question No. 3692 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-11
Subject: Improvement in Nutritional Status of Girls and Mothers
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Sunil Kumar Singh, Ranjeetsingh Naik Nimbalkar, Naranbhai Bhikhabhai Kachhadiya, Mohan Mandavi, Sudhakar Tukaram Shrangre, Vijay Baghel, Arun Sao, Devji Mansingram Patel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3692 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.08.2023

## IMPROVEMENT IN NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF GIRLS AND MOTHERS

3692.  SHRI SUNIL KUMAR SINGH:

SHRI RANJEETSINGH NAIK NIMBALKAR:

SHRI NARANBHAI KACHHADIYA:

SHRI MOHAN MANDAVI:

SHRI SUDHAKAR TUKARAM SHRANGARE:

SHRI VIJAY BAGHEL:

SHRI ARUN SAO:

SHRI DEVJI M. PATEL:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  implemented  the  ambitious  National  POSHAN Mission/Bal POSHAN Abhiyan aimed at pregnant women and lactating mothers;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the details of the funds allocated/released/utilised thereunder during the last three years, State/UT-wise and year-wise including Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh;
- (d) whether an average improvement reported in nutritional status of children/girl child under  and  over  five  years,  pregnant  women  and  lactating  mothers  after  the implementation of PM-POSHAN scheme vis-a-vis the targets fixed; and
- (e) the  fresh  steps  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  to  achieve  the targets under the PM-POSHAN scheme in a time bound manner?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) & (b)     POSHAN Abhiyaan (erstwhile National Nutrition Mission) was launched on 8 th March 2018, with an aim to achieve improvement in nutritional status of 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/UTs.
- (c)        The details of funds released under the scheme, in the last three years State/UTwise  including  Jharkhand,  Gujarat,  Maharashtra,  Rajasthan  and  Chhattisgarh,  are annexed.

(d)  &  (e)      PM-POSHAN  scheme  (mid-day  meal  scheme)  is  being  implemented  by Ministry of Education. As per the provisions of National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, children studying in classes I-VIII or within the age group of 6-14 years are entitled to one mid day meal free of charge, every day except on school holidays, in all Government and Government  aided  schools  so  as  to  meet  nutritional  standards  specified  in  the  Act.

Accordingly,  Government is implementing Pradhan  Mantri  Poshan  Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme. As per information received from Ministry of Education, this Scheme is  implemented  across the  country  and  covers  12.16  crore  children  of  Bal  vatika  (just before class I) and Classes I-VIII studying in 10.84 lakhs Government and GovernmentAided Schools.

The Primary objectives of the Scheme are to improve the nutritional status of the students,  to  encourage  them  to  attend  classes  more  regularly  and  to  help  them concentrate better on learning activities.

Further, Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition among children under five years of age, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers and  is  implementing  several  schemes  like  POSHAN  Abhiyaan,  Anganwadi  Services, Scheme  for  Adolescent  Girls,  under  Mission  Poshan  2.0  and  Pradhan  Mantri  Matru Vandana  Yojana  (PMMVY)  under  Mission  Shakti,  as  direct  targeted  interventions  to address the issue.

In  order  to  maximize  nutritional  outcomes,  recently  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). 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. Poshan 2.0 focuses on Maternal Nutrition, Infant and Young Child Feeding Norms, Treatment of MAM/SAM and Wellness through AYUSH. Technology is being leveraged under the 'Poshan Tracker', a robust ICT enabled platform to improve governance with regard to monitoring of provisioning of supplementary nutrition for prompt supervision and management of services.

Under  Poshan  2.0,  focus  is  on  diet  diversity,  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 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.

As per the report of National Family Health Surveys (NFHS) conducted by Ministry of  Health  and  Family  Welfare,  the  nutrition  indicators  for  children  under  5  years  and women have improved between the two rounds of the survey conducted in year 2015-16 (NFHS-4) and 2019-21 (NFHS-5). The prevalence of stunting has reduced from 38.4% in NFHS-4 to 35.5% in NFHS-5, wasting from 21.0% to 19.3% and underweight from 35.8% to  32.1%.  Further,  the  prevalence  of  underweight  among  women  (15-49  years)  has reduced from 22.9% in NFHS-4 to 18.7% in NFHS-5.

Further,  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 June 2023 as per which, 7% were wasted and 19% underweight, which is significantly lower than NFHS indicators.

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Annexure State-wise  statement  of  funds  released  under  POSHAN  Abhiyaan  from  F.Y. 2018-19 toF.Y.2022-23 (as on 31.03.2023)

Amount in ₹ lakhs

| Sl. States/UTs             |   Total Central Funds Released |
|----------------------------|--------------------------------|
| 1 A&NISLANDS               |                        1290.71 |
| 2 ANDHRAPRADESH            |                       25498.6  |
| 3 ARUNACHALPRADESH         |                        2777.65 |
| 4 ASSAM                    |                       30684.9  |
| 5 BIHAR                    |                       46558.3  |
| 6 CHANDIGARH               |                         880.37 |
| 7 CHHATTISGARH             |                       10502.1  |
| 8 D&N HAVELI and DAMAN&DIU |                        1105.5  |
| 9 DELHI                    |                        2395.48 |
| 10GOA                      |                         219.62 |
| 11 GUJARAT                 |                       27433.2  |
| 12 HARYANA                 |                        6430.05 |
| 13 HIMACHALPRADESH         |                        5379.38 |
| 14 JAMMU&KASHMIR           |                        9027.79 |
| 15 JHARKHAND               |                        5144.05 |
| 16 KARNATAKA               |                       16023.1  |
| 17 KERALA                  |                       11229.2  |
| 18 LADAKH                  |                          20.71 |
| 19 LAKSHADWEEP             |                         367    |
| 20 MADHYAPRADESH           |                       37515.1  |
| 21 MAHARASHTRA             |                       55902    |
| 22 MANIPUR                 |                        4055.98 |
| 23 MEGHALAYA               |                        5041.06 |
| 24 MIZORAM                 |                        3209.13 |
| 25 NAGALAND                |                        7800.93 |
| 26 ODISHA                  |                       23464.7  |
| 27 PUDUCHERRY              |                         905.13 |
| 28 PUNJAB                  |                        6113.58 |
| 29 RAJASTHAN               |                       19686.3  |
| 30 SIKKIM                  |                        1272.39 |
| 31 TAMILNADU               |                       35507.5  |
| 32 TELANGANA               |                       17905.8  |
| 33 TRIPURA                 |                        3955.36 |
| 34 UTTARPRADESH            |                       48662.9  |
| 35 UTTARAKHAND             |                       12651.7  |
| 36WEST BENGAL              |                       21292.2  |
| Total                      |                      507910    |