POSHAN Abhiyaan: All You Need to Know

What is POSHAN?

It stands for: Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment
Launched on: 8th March 2018. in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan
Aim: To ensure attainment of malnutrition free India by 2022.
Phases: 315 Districts in first year, 235 Districts in second year and remaining districts will be covered in the third year.
Implementing Agency: Ministry of Women and Child Development

Reduce level of under-nutrition and other related problems by ensuring convergence of various nutrition-related schemes.
Control child-stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia and low birth rate.
Monitor and review implementation of all such schemes and utilize existing structural arrangements of line ministries wherever available.
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.

Implementation strategy would be based on intense monitoring and Convergence Action Plan right up to the grass root level. POSHAN Abhiyaan is to be rolled out in three phases from 2017-18 to 2019-20.
Reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively. Although the target to reduce Stunting is at least 2% p.a.
Mission would strive to achieve reduction in Stunting from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022 (Mission 25 by 2022).

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.

An amount of Rs. 9046.17 crore will be expended for three years commencing from 2017-18. This will be funded by
Government Budgetary Support (50%) and 50% by IBRD or
Government budgetary support would be 60:40 between Centre and States/UTs, 90:10 for NER and Himalayan States and 100% for UTs without legislature.
Total Government of India share over a period of three years would be Rs. 2849.54 crore.

e-ILA or e-Incremental Learning Approach are online thematic modules on Nutrition and Early Childhood Education (ECE) developed to support the worker improve their knowledge and skills in an ongoing, incremental manner. In addition to providing easily accessible and interactive online content for revision and recall, the e-ILA modules allow for self-paced learning, helping AWWs develop practical job skills and a clear and grasp of programmatic and thematic priorities. With a knowledge assessment built-in at the end of each module, it provides immediate feedback to the AWW motivating her to improve herself and follows up at the end of the month to assess actions taken by the AWW based on the IL modules completed.

Union Government is celebrating Rashtriya Poshan Maah (National Nutrition Month) in the month of September. It is a part of POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission).
NFHS-4 data shows that in India almost 38.4% of children under 5-years of age are stunted (low height-for-age) and 21% wasted (low weight-for-height). There is thus an urgent need to scale-up interventions and programmes relevant for improving nutrition.
Poshan Maah tries to bring focus on nutrition with the tag line of har ghar, poshan tyohar. The initiative is about spreading behavioural change and communication (BCC) messages related to maternal, infant and young child care and feeding practices. It also includes other related interventions such as growth monitoring, anaemia management, hygiene and sanitation and so on.