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Read about Mission Poshan Abhiyaan scheme in details..
INTRODUCTION
India has struggled for many years to end the widespread malnourishment of people of all ages. Malnutrition is described as deficiencies, excesses, or imbalances in an individual's dietary intake. It is a significant enough issue in India that it has been given top national priority.
The government has combined several programs with related goals, like the Supplementary Nutrition Programme and POSHAN Abhiyaan under one umbrella—Mission POSHAN 2.0—in order to create operational synergies and adopt an integrated approach in the nutrition services mechanism. The scheme's original goal was to cover key aspects of the current malnutrition situation in the nation for three years, ending in March 2021.
NEED
Over the past 40 years, India has tried a number of nutrition programs, including the creation of the Integrated Child Development Services and the implementation of the midday meal program across the country.
Stunting and malnutrition, however, remain persistent problems for the nation.
Despite a notable decline in malnutrition rates, India continues to harbor the world's highest proportion of stunted and wasted children, or those with low weight for height. Because states differ in terms of geography and culture, fighting hunger calls for a targeted strategy. The government's national nutrition mission, POSHAN Abhiyaan, was introduced in 2018 with the goal of offering a coordinating framework for the nation's response to malnutrition.
IMPLEMENTATION
For the first phase, the government has selected 112 aspirational districts. Under the auspices of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) within the National Education Policy (NEP), the Ministry of Women and Child Development will carry out the implementation of this program in partnership with the Ministries of Health and Family Welfare and Education.
Within the interim budget FY25, the Finance Ministry has allotted about US$ 2.55 billion (about Rs. 21,200 crore) to the Women and Child Development Ministry's Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 program. The revised US$ 2.43 billion (Rs. 20,263) crore for FY23 saw a 1.4% increase, while the predicted US$ 2.47 billion (Rs. 20,554 crore) for FY24 saw a 3% increase. It is noteworthy that the initiative had a notable 10% increase in funding in FY23 as compared to the US$ 2.21 billion (Rs. 18,382 crore) allotted in the previous year.
INITIATIVES
Using Poshan Tracker to track last-mile delivery of additional nutrition:
The Ministry emphasizes the value of effective nutrition delivery through SNP and POSHAN Abhiyaan on April 10, 2023. With millions of beneficiaries registered and extensive ICT use, transparency and accountability are crucial when it comes to tracking nutrition receipt through Aadhaar verification, QR codes, and SMS alerts. SMS notifications from Poshan Tracker verify THR delivery to recipients. Under Mission Poshan 2.0, states are now required to install mandatory QR tagging for last-mile tracking and promptly report compliance to the Ministry.
Ratio of cost sharing under the POSHAN Abhiyaan:
All states and union territories received operational guidelines pertaining to the implementation of Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0 on August 1, 2022. The cost-sharing agreement between the federal government and the state/UT governments for each of the POSHAN Abhiyaan's components was also made clear by these guidelines. The POSHAN Abhiyaan has different cost-sharing ratios for different states and union territories (UTs). In states and UTs with legislatures, the federal government contributes 60% and the state or UT government contributes 40%. On the other hand, the Himalayan and Northeastern states receive a larger part from the central government, which pays for 90% of the expenses, while the state or UT only contributes 10%. Furthermore, for UTs devoid of a legislature.
The mobile application POSHAN Tracker:
Using technology to monitor and enhance service delivery for beneficiaries, such as young children (0–6 years old), expectant mothers, and nursing mothers, is one of the main goals of the POSHAN Abhiyaan. In this regard, the MoWCD developed a powerful ICT-enabled platform called "POSHAN Tracker," which was introduced on January 13, 2021, to guarantee real-time monitoring of providing supplemental nutrition to improve beneficiaries' nutritional status and real-time information for timely supervision and management of services.
Private Sector Participation in POSHAN Abhiyaan:
UNICEF, Tata Trusts, Sight and Life, CSRBOX, CII, WeCan, and the NASSCOM Foundation came together to launch the IMPAct4Nutrtion campaign in New Delhi in March 2019. With the support of the POSHAN Abhiyaan, the private sector may actively engage and develop a social movement with its customers, employees, and their families through IMPAct4Nutrition, a platform that is available to all members of their business ecosystem. The platform facilitates the involvement and assistance of the business sector in raising nutrition awareness and enhancing nutrition literacy, which is the combination of health, food, hygiene, and literacy. In addition to joining the POSHAN Abhiyaan, it has provided businesses with an opportunity to influence social and economic transformation by encouraging families free from malnourishment.
FUTURE
Poshan Abhiyaan has become even more crucial as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic and the lockdowns that followed. The pandemic brought with it a number of severe economic issues for the entire economy, but particularly for the poor and vulnerable. Therefore, as part of Mission POSHAN 2.0, the government has detailed a significant budgetary push for a nutrition-specific program to rebuild the current nutrition program.
The nation's long-standing problems with hunger and food insecurity require proactive action. Developing well-planned, time-bound, and site-specific tactics is essential, taking into account the pandemic's consequences as well as socioeconomic considerations. Developing a comprehensive strategy that addresses the various facets and aspects of nutrition is also essential.