Poshan Abhiyaan – National Nutrition Mission

Poshan Abhiyaan, also known as the National Nutrition Mission (NNM), was launched by PM Narendra Modi in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan in March 2018 (although the programme was being implemented in 2017) by the Government of India is a multi-ministerial convergence mission with the vision to ensure attainment of malnutrition free India by 2022.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) is the nodal ministry for implementing POSHAN Abhiyaan. The goal of NNM is to achieve improvement in nutritional status of Children from (0-6 years), Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner.

Objectives of Poshan Abhiyaan – National Nutrition Mission

1. The main objective of the mission is to reduce the level of under-nutrition and also enhance the nutritional status of children and women in the country.
2. Poshan Abhiyaan is India’s flagship scheme to improve the nutritional outcomes of adolescents girls, children of age (0-6 years), pregnant women and lactating mothers.
3. The term ‘Poshan’ in the name of the programme stands for ‘Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition.
4. This mission has specific targets for reducing stunting, anemia, under-nutrition and low birth weight.
5. According to ‘Mission 25 by 2020’, the National Nutrition Mission aims to achieve a reduction in stunting from 38.4% to 25% by 2022.
6. Its large component involves gradual scaling-up of interventions supported by on-going World Bank assisted Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Systems Strengthening and Nutrition Improvement Project (ISSNIP) to all districts in the country by 2022.

The NITI Aayog also plays a vital role in the Poshan Abhiyaan. The National Council on India’s Nutritional Challenges, which has been set up under the Poshan Abhiyaan, has the Vice Chairperson of NITI Aayog as its Chairperson.

Scheme Implementation

More than 10 crore people will be benefitted by this programme. All the States and districts will be covered in a phased manner i.e. 315 districts in 2017-18, 235 districts in 2018-19 and remaining districts in 2019-20.

Specific Targets of National Nutrition Mission

1. Reduce stunting by 2% annually.
2. Reduce under-nutrition by 2% annually.
3. Reduce anemia by 3% annually.
4. Reduce low birth weight by 2% annually.

Prompted lockdowns due to covid-19 severely affects National Nutrition Mission by disrupting essential services — such as supplementary feeding under Anganwadi centers, mid-day meals, immunization, and micro-nutrient supplementation which exacerbated malnutrition.

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