The Indian government is implementing a lot of government schemes and programs for the benefit of the children of women of the nation. These schemes come under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme. One such govt scheme is directed to address the malnutrition in the country. The Poshan Abhiyaan Jan Andolan scheme addresses the cause of malnutrition in India, promoting the idea of #SahiPoshanDeshRoshan.

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Poshan Abhiyaan Jan Andolan: An Overview

Prime Minister Overarching Scheme For Holistic Nutrition or the Poshan Abhiyan also known as the National Nutrition Mission (NNM) is a flagship program of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. This Sarkari Yojana was launched on 8th March 2018 with the mission to improve the nutritional status of children, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. Raising the nutrition level of the country is the prime focus.

NNM maps various schemes that contribute towards fighting malnutrition in the country, including ICT-based real-time monitoring, monetary helping states and UTs, incentivising Anganwadi Workers, establishing Nutrition Centres, and many more.

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Overview Of Poshan Abhiyaan Jan Andolan

Scheme Name	Poshan Abhiyaan
Launch Date	8th March 2018
Ministry To Launch	Ministry of Women and Child Development
Key Objective	To increase the nutritional status of the country by fighting malnutrition.
Target Group	Newborn, Children, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women, and Lactating Mothers
Poshan Maah	September is known as the Poshan Maah in India.

What Is The Need Of The Poshan Abhiyaan?

Malnutrition is one of the major problems and contributes towards mortality and auto-immune illness among humans. There are several causes of death among children due to malnutrition, like prematurity, pneumonia, asphyxia, congenital anomalies, bacterial sepsis, low birth weight, and more. Poshan Abhiyaan addresses all these issues and makes India a safe and nourished place for children and women.

The Nikshay Poshan Yojana is a powerful govt yojana because it ensures convergence with many other government programmes like Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, Janani Suraksha Yojana, Anganwadi program, National Health Mission, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), and many others.

Using these schemes, not only does the Poshan Abhiyan educate the masses, but also breaks the grip of malnutrition in India, thus playing a very important role in the development of the nation.

The Impact Of Pandemic Like Covid-19 On The Malnutrition Of India

Pandemic for any country is hard. The coronavirus pandemic left a big mark on the entire world. It disrupted not just the economy, and the lives of people, but also left millions of people in poverty. In India, many people lost their jobs, income, and overall economic support, which pushed them spiralling into food scarcity, and ultimately towards malnutrition.

Even the biggest government schemes that are working towards fighting food insecurity, the pandemic-led lockdown disrupted the essential services of schemes like Anganwadi, Mid-Day Meals, and more. Creating a worse situation for already underprivileged children, women, and elders.

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Features And Objectives Of the Poshan Abhiyan?

Poshan Abhiyan is the turning point to change the Indian nutrition system for the better. Its objective and features not only make it an effective scheme but also a key to a happier and nourished future.

Objective Of The Government Scheme

Let’s look at the objective of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Holistic Mission to fight malnutrition and poverty in Indian society.

• Poshan Abhiyaan addresses the challenges of Malnutrition.

• The scheme aims to contribute towards India’s human capital development.

• Using various govt schemes and strategies to address the low nutritional status of the country.

• Improving the health of the nation’s children and mothers.

• The Abhiyaan aims to educate and aware people of the importance of nutrition and a healthy eating habit.

• Using ICT for real-time monitoring of the development.

• Helping Anganwadi Workers with finances so they can use modern technology instead of long paperwork.

• The yojana aims to nourish, aware, and counsel lactating mothers or pregnant women of India.

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Features Of Poshan Abhiyaan Scheme

Now as we learnt about the objective of the Poshan Abhiyaan it is time to understand how these objectives are going to be achieved by learning about the features of the Abhiyaan.

• The Poshan Abhiyaan is an umbrella scheme that monitors, supervises, sets targets, and guides nutrition-related interventions across Ministries.

• Poshan Abhiyaan monitors various govt schemes that contribute to addressing malnutrition in India.

• Poshan Abhiyaan shall focus on Maternal Nutrition, Infant and Young Child Feeding Norms, and Treatment Protocols.

• Jan Andolan and Multi-Sectoral Interventions are the two main components of the Poshan Abhiyaan.

• It incentivises Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) to use IT-based tools at the community level.

• The Poshan Tracker App is designed for Anganwadi workers and Anganwadi centres to enter beneficiary data into forms.

• It incentivises states and UTs to meet their targets.

• It establishes Nutrition Resource Centers (NRCs) to increase public nutrition awareness through various social activities and audits.

Read More: The National Food Security Mission (NFMS)

What Are The Benefits Of Poshan Abhiyaan?

Poshan Abhiyaan has a holistic approach to solving the malnutrition of the country. The govt scheme is helping the citizens in more than one way.

• This central government scheme is helping reduce the undernutrition level in the country. It also uses multi-ministerial schemes and initiatives to enhance overall nutrition.

• Poshan Abhiyaan is a flagship scheme that improves nutrition among children, mothers, pregnant women, and adolescents.

• Not only does the scheme enhance food security, but it also invites technological innovation in various departments.

• The program is dedicated to fighting the high level of stunting, low birth weight, under-nutrition, and anaemia among the citizens.

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Phase-Wise Implementation Of Poshan Abhiyan

Poshan Abhiyan has been executed across all districts in India on a phased basis. Implementing the govt scheme over several phases will be more efficient as lessons learnt from each phase are taken into account when planning subsequent ones thus allowing for some adaptations and improvements hence ensuring that goals are achieved most effectively.

Phase I	Haryana started with Nuh and Panipat
Phase II	Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Bhiwani, Yamuna Nagar, Gurugram, Palwal, Rohtak, Sirsa and Sonipat were some more districts included.
Phase III	The remaining cities and districts were added making this phase a complete reach in all States/UTs

New On Poshan Abhiyaan: Recent Updates

The govt scheme has now been aligned as a part of Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0. This along with Anganwadi Services and scheme for Adolescent Girls has given Poshan Abhiyaan an even bigger impact.

• The goal is to improve the nutritional value of food, the way it's delivered, and its impact on health, with an emphasis on promoting habits that support wellness, disease prevention, and the fight against malnutrition.

• The main focus areas are maternal nutrition, proper feeding guidelines for infants and young children, treatment of severe and moderate malnutrition (SAM/MAM), and promoting wellness through AYUSH practices.

• Under Poshan 2.0, attention is given to increasing variety in diets, fortifying foods, using traditional knowledge, and promoting millet.

• Current nutrition strategies aim to raise awareness and encourage regional meal plans to fill nutritional gaps, supporting long-term health and well-being.

Read More: The National Food Security Mission (NFMS): A Comprehensive Overview

Understanding Poshan 2.0

Poshan 2.0 is the updated version of the Poshan Abhiyaan Jan Andolan. Poshan 2.0 focuses on improving nutrition and health for children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. Unlike Poshan Abhiyaan, Poshan 2.0 takes it a step further, it is more than just addressing food insecurity. It is handling clean drinking water, proper sanitation, promoting healthy hygiene practices, and overall ensuring a more comprehensive approach towards health.

While Poshan Abhiyaan focuses on raising awareness about nutrition in the country, Poshan 2.0 concentrates on delivering better resources and improving the infrastructure for a wider and better outcome.

What Are The Target Of National Nutrition Mission?

Poshan Abhiyaan or the NNM has specific targets to achieve annually. This goal is designed in a way that systematically aligns with the citizen’s needs and changing approaches. The NNM targets are mentioned below:

Reduce Stunting In Children	2% (annually)
Reduce Undernutrition	2% (annually)
Reduce Anaemia	3% (annually)
Reduce Low Birth Weight In Children	2% (annually)

What Are The Key Pillars Of Poshan Abhiyaan?

Poshan Abhiyaan has key pillars supporting the structure of the entire scheme. Let’s look at all these pillars one by one and learn their importance in the change.

• Convergence: One critical element of PoshanAbhiyan is its emphasis on convergence where all nutrition-related government programs/schemes of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) are brought together to address their intended beneficiaries. The Sarkari Yojana ensures that different ministries and departments work together so that whatever they are doing will be geared towards improving nutritional outcomes.

• ICDS-CAS: Integrated child development services application software is an information communication technology-based tool used for monitoring the nutritional status of individuals. It comprises mobile phones for Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) and supervisors to conduct height, weight and other growth measurements using tools such as stadiometers weighing scales. This quantitative approach enables better monitoring, management, and decision-making processes regarding nutrition interventions.

• Behavioural Change: Poshan Abhiyan is designed to be a Jan Andolan or People’s Movement with people at its centre. Regular community-based events are conducted which involve a huge number of people in addressing these important concerns through promoting awareness about nutrition and health. Besides this, it also helps make sure that the program benefits reach down to the grassroots level thereby having a long-lasting impact.

• Incentives: To motivate frontline functionaries, there are incentives based on performance under this initiative. This not only boosts their morale but also makes implementation effective and efficient as per its stipulations.

• Training and Capacity Building: The Poshan Abhiyan uses an Incremental Learning Approach (ILA) to train field workers in 21 different thematic modules. This knowledge is passed on by master trainers who ensure that the field workers are fully equipped to deal with arising challenges.

• Grievance Redressal: A call centre has also been set up for any beneficiary or worker with some challenges to easily access solutions, which ensures the smooth functioning of the program.

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What Are The Expected Outcomes And Impact Of This Govt Scheme?

To bring the changes and achieve its target several parameters are working to make the Poshan Abhiyaan Scheme as effective as possible. We have already learnt about the objectives and target of NNM, let us see the expected outcomes and Impact of that.

Impact	Expected Outcome
The govt scheme has reduced stunting and underweight in children.	Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children between ages 0-3 years can enjoy the improved coverage of ICDS nutrition services.
From young children, and adolescent girls to pregnant women, there is a significant reduction in anaemia.	The mission aims to improve the services provided to women and children.
Low Birth Weight has been reduced in babies in India.	NNM aims to improve the nutrition practices among maternal, infant and young children.

What Is Rashtriya Poshan Maah?

Every year in September, Rashtriya Poshan Maah is celebrated as part of the Poshan Abhiyaan Yojana. The activities during this month focus on changing people’s behaviours and encouraging better eating habits. Across all States and Union Territories, various events are held to promote healthy eating, reaching even the most rural areas. These activities include nutrition rallies, distributing Poshan meals, morning processions (Prabhat pheree), and lessons on nutrition in schools and Anganwadi centres.

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What Ministries Are Involved In The Poshan Abhiyaan?

As addressed before this govt scheme is a multi-ministry scheme and works parallel with other departments and schemes. Let us see which Ministries are involved in the Poshan Abhiyaan.

• Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD)

• Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD)

• Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW)

• Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MoDW&S)

• Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR)

• Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA)

• Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)

• Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MoIB)

• Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA)

• Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MoYA&S)

• Ministry of AYUSH Ayurvedic, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy

• Ministry of Defence (MoD)

• Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare (MoA&FW)

What Is Poshan Abhiyaan Jan Andolan App?

An important part of this government scheme is the Jan Andolan App, which helps bring communities together, raise awareness, and motivate people to join this national initiative. Let’s see Poshan Abhiyan Gov In-App Download details.

Features	Details
Application name	Poshan Abhiyaan Jab Andolan App
Available On	Google Play Store
Downloads So far	1L+
Permission	Location, Network, And Storage

The Jan Andolan App plays a vital role in the Poshan Abhiyaan by getting people involved in the effort to combat malnutrition. Through the app, users can find valuable nutrition information, participate in activities promoting healthy eating, and support the nationwide goal of improving nutrition for everyone.

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Conclusion

Poshan Abhiyaan Yojana is a government initiative for a better future. It fights malnutrition in the country but it also educates and empowers people about the importance of nutrition to lead a healthy life.

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Important Links

Official Website: https://poshanabhiyaan.gov.in/

Poshan Helpline: 14408