POSHAN Abhiyaan Addresses The Malaise Of Malnutrition 

Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is making serious efforts to address this issue. POSHAN Abhiyaan, a flagship scheme of the Government was launched in 2018 to address the malaise of malnutrition by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach. Further, to address various policy and systemic needs, the efforts under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme under Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and POSHAN Abhiyaan have been re-aligned 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. The scheme has been rolled out in all 36 States/UTs of the country.

There are 7074 sanctioned projects under Mission Poshan 2.0 with 13.9 lakh Anganwadi Centres across the country. 9.94 crore beneficiaries, namely, pregnant women, lactating mothers and children under the age of 6 years, are registered for Anganwadi Services on the ICT application, Poshan Tracker, as on date, out of whom 91% are Aadhar-verified. 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. Under Poshan 2.0, focus is on food fortification, leveraging traditional systems of knowledge and popularizing use of millets. To address the challenge of malnutrition arising due to micro-nutrient deficiency, only fortified rice is being allocated to States/UTs .In FY 2022-23, 1226115 MTs of fortified rice have been allocated to States/UTs.

For improving the condition of Anganwadi Centres across the country (including Rajasthan), following steps have been undertaken:

1. Under Saksham Anganwadi, across the country 2 lakh Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) (40,000 AWCs per year) would be strengthened and upgraded for improved nutrition delivery and for early childhood care and education for children under 6 years of age. This year 40,000 AWCs have been identified in aspirational districts for upgradation. Saksham Anganwadis would have better infrastructure including internet/wifi connectivity, LED screens, smart learning and audio-visual aids and child-friendly learning equipment.

In the state of Rajasthan, 213 Saksham Anganwadi Centres have been approved in Aspirational districts and funds amounting to Rs 102.93 lakhs have been released to make the Anganwadis Saksham

2. The cost of construction of Toilet per AWC has been revised to Rs.36000/- from Rs.12000/- and the cost for providing drinking water facilities has been revised to Rs.17000/- from Rs.10000/-.
3. A total of 50,000 AWCs (@10,000 AWCs per year) would be constructed under convergence with MGNREGS for a five year period ending FY 2025-26. The cost of construction of AWC buildings under convergence with MGNREGA has been revised to Rs.12.00 lakh per AWC of out of Rs.8.00 lakh would be provided under MGNREGS, Rs.2.00 lakh under 15^th Finance Commission funds (any other untied funds) and Rs.2.00 lakh by MWCD per AWC to be shared between Centre and States/UTs in the prescribed cost sharing ratio.
4. Grants are sanctioned for purchase of furniture, equipment, etc.
5. Anganwadi Centres have been provided with Smart Phones and Growth Monitoring Devices for efficient service delivery.

In order to eradicate malnutrition among pregnant women and lactating mothers and children upto the age of 6 years, supplementary nutrition is provided as per the nutritional norms given below for 300 days in a year:

This information was given by the Union Minister of Women & Child Devlopment, Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.