Lok Sabha Question No. 647 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-02-26
Subject: Nutrition Resource Platform
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: LAKHAN LAL SAHU, POONAM  MAHAJAN

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 647

TO BE ANSWERED ON 26.02.2016

## NUTRITION RESOURCE PLATFORM

## 647. SHRI LAKHAN LAL SAHU:

SHRIMATI POONAM MAHAJAN:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  launched  Nutrition  Resource  Platform  (NRP)  in  the country;
- (b) if so, the salient features thereof and the amount of funds sanctioned for the purpose;
- (c) whether a pilot project has been initiated in the country under the aegis of the platform to collect information on a monthly basis from Anganwadi Centres;
- (d) if so, the details thereof along with the progress made thereunder; and
- (e) the  steps  taken/proposed  to  be  taken  by  the  Government  to  spread  awareness  on nutrition hygiene including the use of modern technology through this platform?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT SHRIMATI MANEKA SANJAY GANDHI

(a) Yes, Nutrition Resource Platform (NRP) has been launched by the then Minister of Women and Child Development on 24 th January 2014.

(b)  NRP  has  been  launched  with  an  aim  to  create  a  single  knowledge  sharing  platform  for nutrition, early childhood education and development, care and support systems, serving as a digital  resource  library  on  nutrition.  The  platform  is  accessible  at  www.poshan.nic.in  and/or www.akshayaposhan.gov.in. It has following components:

-  A  digital/physical  library  to  provide  access  to  resource  materials  electronically  or otherwise.
-  A web-based knowledge management e-forum proposed for discussion and exchange of ideas.
-  Mobile Telephony which is the end-user services for ICDS functionaries with a possibility of services like Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS, SMS blast) to connect with the grassroots level workers.

An amount of Rs. 1, 39, 35,782/- has been released for NRP up to January, 2016.

(c& d) Yes, a pilot project has been initiated using Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) of NRP wherein mobile phones are being used as a medium for collection of Monthly Progress Report (MPR) from Anganwadi workers. Each Anganwadi Centre has been assigned an 11 digit unique  code  and  Anganwadi  Workers  were  required  to  feed  the  data  from  landline/  mobile phone using the Toll Free Number, 1800116633. Real-time data collection through IVRS has been piloted in about 8331 Anganwadi Centers from 63 projects in 27 districts of 21 States/ UTs in the country. The acquired data is updated on the central server of the Ministry.

(e)  The initiatives undertaken through the platform in order to spread awareness on nutrition issues including sanitation in the country are as follows:

-  Nationwide Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign against malnutrition  to  create  awareness  about  nutrition  challenges  and  promote  home  level feeding practices was undertaken by the Ministry in the country during the years 20122015.The  IEC  material  developed  for  the  campaign  are  available  on  the  NRP  in downloadable  format  for  further  outreach  as  well  as  for  generating  awareness  in  the population.
-  The portal contains more than 6320 documents in printable format, audio visuals, and other IEC materials, which can be accessed by various policy makers, students, ICDS functionaries and community at large.
-  Various functionaries of ICDS are being continuously given training on access and use of the NRP website.
-  NRP has also been introduced to various social media networks to broaden the outreach of the platform and continuous efforts are being made to make the website more userfriendly.

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