What: First meeting of National Council under POSHAN Abhiyan
Where: New Delhi
When: 18 April, 2018
- The first meeting of National Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges under POSHAN Abhiyaan was held on April 18, 2018 in New Delhi.
- The meeting was chaired by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog.
- The Council which has been set up under POSHAN Abhiyaan is the apex body to formulate overall policies, guide and monitor all nutrition based schemes.
- The mandate of the Council is:
- To provide policy directions to address India’s Nutrition Challenges through coordinated inter-sectoral action.
- To coordinate and review convergence among ministries
- To review programmes for nutrition on a quarterly basis
- The Council will submit its report to the Prime Minister every six months.
- Some of the important decisions taken in the meeting are :
- 235 Additional Districts have been confirmed as part of Phase II of POSHAN Abhiyaan in financial year 2018-19
- 315 districts were already covered under phase-I of POSHAN Abhiyaan.The balance of 167 districts out of 718 districts will be covered in Phase III of the Abhiyaan.
- Provision of Smartphones instead of Tablets to Lady Supervisors.
- Direct transfer of Funds to States/UTs for Cash Award to Frontline Functionaries, instead of Creation of Corpus Fund.
- During the meeting following decisions were also taken:
- The pilot will be conducted in 10 districts for conditional cash transfer(CCT) through direct benefit transfer
- States/UTs to continue their existing system of providing supplementary nutrition under Anganwadi services
- Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Joint Secretary highlighted that various incentives have been made a part of POSHAN Abhiyaan. To encourage Anganwadi workers to use mobile phones for real time monitoring (ICT-RTM), incentive funds shall be provided for each Anganwadi worker per month. It will be linked to the achievements of certain targets.
- Centralised call centre will be established for monitoring, grievance redressal and interventions.
- Under the Abhiyaan, Swasth Bharat Preraks will be deployed one in each District for coordinating with District officials and enabling fast and efficient execution of the Abhiyaan across the country.
- Swasth Bharat Preraks would function as a catalyst for fast tracking the implementation of the Abhiyaan. By July 2018, 315 Swasth Bharat Preraks are likely to be deployed in 315 districts of Phase I of the POSHAN Abhiyaan.
About POSHAN Abhiyaan
- POSHAN Abhiyaan was launched on March 8, 2018 by the Prime Minister in Jhunjhunu. The Abhiyaan targets to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively.The target of the mission is to bring down stunting among children in the age group 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% by 2022.
- The annual targets set under POSHAN Abhiyaan beginning 2017-18 are as under:
- Prevent and reduce stunting in children (0-6years): By 6% @ 2% p.a.
- Prevent and reduce under-nutrition (underweight prevalence) in children (0-6 years): By 6% @ 2% p.a.
- Reduce the prevalence of anemia among young Children(6-59 months): By 9% @ 3% p.a.
- Reduce the prevalence of anemia among Women and Adolescent Girls in the age group of 15-49 years: By 9% @ 3% p.a.
- Reduce Low Birth Weight (LBW): By 6% @ 2% p.a.
- Target of Mission is also to bring down stunting of the children in the age group of 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% by the year 2022.
