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POSHAN Abhiyaan
The Union Budget 2025-26 has allocated Rs 26,889.69 crore to the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD), an increase from the revised estimate of Rs 23,182.98 crore in 2024-25. Of the entire outlay, one of the biggest allocations is for Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0, which has received Rs 21,960 crore to combat malnutrition and strengthen early childhood care. The initiatives were allocated Rs 20,070.90 crore allocated in the revised estimates for 2024-25. The initiative, which also includes a Scheme for Adolescent Girls, has been restructured under three primary verticals nutrition support for children and adolescent girls, early childhood care and education, and Anganwadi infrastructure. Presenting her eighth consecutive budget, Sitharaman said Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 programmes provide nutritional support to over 8 crore children, one crore pregnant and lactating women, and 20 lakh adolescent girls in aspirational districts and the northeast region. "The cos
More than 11,000 Saksham Anganwadi centres will be inaugurated virtually during the closing ceremony of this year's Poshan Maah campaign in Ranchi on Monday. The Women and Child Development Ministry said Saksham Anganwadis are strengthened, upgraded and rejuvenated Anganwadis for improved nutrition and early childhood care and education (ECCE). Some of the special features of a Saksham Anganwadi Centre include improved infrastructure such as LED screens, water filtration system, material for ECCE, building as a learning aid (BALA) paintings and Poshan Vatika that gives access to diverse plants and herbs that help in fighting malnutrition. The event will be attended by Women and Child Development Minister Annapurna Devi, Jharkhand Governor Santosh Gangwar, the state's Minister for Women, Child Development and Social Security Baby Devi and Sanjay Seth, the Minister of State for Defence. The seventh Rashtriya Poshan Maah, celebrated from September 1 to 30, focused on key areas such as
The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has reported 1.37 crore activities in 752 districts of 35 states and Union territories by the sixth day of Rashtriya Poshan Maah. Leading contributors to the campaign include Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, an official statement said. Launched on August 31 at Mahatma Mandir in Gujarat's Gandhinagar, the seventh edition of Poshan Maah focuses on critical themes such as anaemia prevention, growth monitoring, complementary feeding and the integration of education with nutrition through the "Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi" initiative. The campaign also promotes environmental sustainability with the "Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam" initiative, with tree planting at over 13.95 lakh Anganwadi centres across the country. Among the reported activities, over 39 lakh focused on anaemia, 27 lakh on growth monitoring, 20 lakh on complementary feeding and 18.5 lakh on the "Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi" ...
There are over 14 lakh severely malnourished children in the country as per the government's Poshan Tracker, the Women and Child Development Ministry said on Wednesday. Children who are severely malnourished have very low weight for their height, and are nine times more likely to die in case of diseases due to their weakened immune system. Responding to a question in Rajya Sabha, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said under Poshan Tracker, the ICT application for monitoring service delivery under Mission Poshan 2.0, out of approximately 5.6 crore children measured in the month of February 2023, the percentage of severely malnourished children is 2.6 per cent. The number comes to be 14,56,000. The percentage of malnourished children was found to be 7.7 per cent which comes to around 43 lakh, the ministry said.
The Centre should include more millets and coarse grains in diets of school-going children under the PM POSHAN scheme, a parliamentary panel has recommended. It noted that there is an increase in student enrolment in schools and recommended that the Ministry of Education should ensure that the increased number of students are covered under the PM POSHAN scheme by making necessary augmentation in the budget allocation. "It is encouragingly evident that there is increment in enrolment of children from 11.80 crores to 12.21 crores in 2021-22. "The committee, accordingly, recommends that the department should make sure even the increased number of enrolled students are covered under the blanket of PM POSHAN scheme and make necessary augmentations in the budget allocation, student data and policy ambit," the panel said in its report. The panel has suggested that the department should conduct a fresh survey or evaluation in coordination with an independent agency, especially in view of .
About 43 lakh or 7.7 per cent children were found malnourished out of approximately 5.6 crore children measured by 'Poshan Tracker' in the month of February, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said on Friday. Responding to a question in Lok Sabha, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said Meghalaya reported the highest number of stunting at 46.5 per cent, while Puducherry recorded the lowest at 20 per cent. Maharashtra reported the highest level of wasted children at 25.6 per cent, while Chandigarh reported the minimum at 8.4 per cent, according to the data shared in a written response. Child wasting refers to a child who is too thin for his or her height and is the result of recent rapid weight loss or the failure to gain weight. A child who is moderately or severely wasted has an increased risk of death, but treatment is possible. The data also said that Bihar reported the maximum percentage of children who are underweight, while Mizoram reported the minimum
Increasing investment on all schemes for children, particularly on PM-POSHAN and raising health budget are among the demands in 'Budget For Children' charter presented to Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary. This charter is a result of numerous local to state and national consultations with over 3,500 of their peers across the country. The interaction was led by 15-year-old Ruksar Rehman, president, National Inclusive Children's Parliament, a statement said. The children's charter of demands stemmed from a report they had submitted to the United Nations as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process at Geneva and the Charter on Environmental Rights of Children in the lead up to COP 27 in Egypt. The demands include that the 6 per cent promise for education (GDP public spending) and 2.5 per cent on health be reflected in the upcoming Union and state budgets for 2023-24 in India. They have also sought an increase in the investment on all schemes for children, ...