Context: 

Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition (POSHAN) Abhiyan completed 7 years of its implementation.

POSHAN Abhiyan:

This Centrally Sponsored Scheme was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 8th March 2018 (International Women's Day) in the Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) implemented POSHAN Abhiyaan in 315 Districts in the first year, 235 Districts in the second year and the remaining districts in the third year of its inception.

In 2021, Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 were launched to combat malnutrition among children, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers, Maternal Nutrition.

• The Finance Ministry has allocated approximately Rs. 21,200 crore in the interim budget FY25 to the Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 scheme.

The Rashtriya Poshan Maah is celebrated during September (9^th month) every year under POSHAN Abhiyaan.

Key Achievements of POSHAN Abhiyaan

As per the data of Poshan Tracker for December 2023, around 7.44 crore children under 6 years were measured, out of whom 36% were found to be stunted, 17% were found to be underweight, and 6% children under 5 years were found to be wasted

Under Mission Poshan 2.0, Supplementary nutrition is provided to beneficiaries 300 days in a year through the network of 13.97 lakh AWCs (Anganwadi Centres) located across the country.

As per the recent report of NFHS-5 (2019-21), the nutrition indicators for children under five years of age have shown improvement as compared to NFHS-4 (2015-16).

• Stunting has reduced from 38.4% to 35.5%
• Wasting has reduced from 21.0% to 19.3% 
• Underweight prevalence has reduced from 35.8% to 32.1%.13 2. 

Through a network of 7075 fully operational Projects and 13.91 lakh AWCs (Anganwadi Centres), 13.14 lakh Anganwadi Workers and 11.67 lakh Anganwadi Helpers are providing services to the beneficiaries. (as on June 2022)

The funding pattern of the scheme:

• For States & UTs with a legislature: 60:40 between Union and State/ UT Government.
• For Northeastern (NER) & Himalayan States: 90:10 between Union and State Government.
• For UTs without a legislature: 100% by Union Government.

Four Strategic Pillars of Poshan Abhiyaan

• Access to Quality Services: Providing essential health services through schemes like Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), National Health Mission (NHM), and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), especially during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life.
• Cross-Sectoral Convergence: Coordinating efforts across multiple ministries.
• Leveraging Technology: Tools like the Poshan Tracker application enable real-time data collection and intervention.
• Jan Andolan: To drive mass awareness through Community engagement around nutrition.

Key Objectives of the Abhiyan