Giving a huge
fillip to the Narendra Modi government’s flagship Poshan Abhiyan, or the National Nutrition Mission, the
Women and Child Development Ministry is pushing for agri-nutrition in a big way
to encourage diet diversity at local levels, even as the Poshan Maah held last
month showed massive participation – with 3.66 crore activities held across the
country, compared to last year.
The Women and Child Development Ministry, under Smriti Irani,
has been focusing on the Poshan Abhiyaan – or the Prime Minister’s Overarching
Scheme for Holistic Nutrition, and made rapid strides since May this year.
At the Fifth National Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges –
Poshan Abhiyan, the minister requested NITI Aayog to operationalise a National
Ranking System for Health and Nutrition of Women & Children covering all
states.
This would help acknowledge the efforts of the states that
perform well, promote best practices used by states and also assist in
hand-holding the under-performing states, Irani said.
The National Advisory Panel on Agri-Nutrition is to be
co-chaired by the Joint Secretaries of the Women and Child Development and
Agriculture Ministries. The move was administratively approved by Irani’s
ministry, the nodal ministry for implementing the Poshan Abhiyaan.
This would help the
ministry to converge efforts for better agricultural practices for nutritional
crops in order to encourage diet diversity at the local levels.
The intention is to
include all Krishi Vigyan Kendras across all states, so that they can help
promote better agrarian practices for crops which have an enhanced nutrient
value, especially to cater to local nutritional needs, the ministry said.
The Rashtriya Poshan
Maah was held in September to emphasise the need for healthy nutrition, and
intensify the nationwide campaign for a ‘malnutrition-free India’.
The Poshan Maah got
an added impetus with Prime Minister Modi on September 1 urging people to
support the government’s holistic nutrition campaign.
He urged people from
all walks of life to support the exceptional endeavour. He tweeted his message
with the hashtag ‘poshan maah’ to drive home the point.
In his ‘Mann ki Baat’
radio address, PM Modi had also spoken about Poshan Abhiyaan, and urged people
to participate. He had also said that due to lack of awareness, both poor and
affluent families are affected by malnutrition.
Smriti Irani said:
“The Ministry is indebted to the PM for appealing to citizens at large to join
efforts to strengthen Poshan Maah activities across the Nation. The fact that
3.66 crore activities were undertaken in one month as compared to Poshan Maah
2018 figures of approximately 22 lakh activities showcases how PM’s Mann Ki
Baat became Jann ki Baat.”
The Poshan Maah saw
3,66,55,410 activities held this year, in comparison to 22,58,542 activities
last year.
There
were over 2 lakh home visits by health workers during the Poshan Maah, compared
to less than one lakh last year. – Agencies
