Poshan Abhiyan drive gaining momentum

Rajendranagar : As part of Poshan Abhiyaan, a central government scheme, awareness programmes are being conducted under Rajendranagar constituency at different educational institutions and Anganwadi centres. Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs) are leading the drive, along with other officials.

The Poshan Abhiyan consultants visited the government schools and colleges in Rajendranagar on Friday, as part of the campaign, and created awareness amongst the students.

They explained the importance of nutritious food, its sources and different health and hygiene measures to be taken for 0 to 6-month-old children, pregnant and lactating women, adolescent girls and elderly.

They also generated awareness about the causes of anemia, diarrhea and asked the students to maintain their premises clean, besides ensuring their fitness by intake of nutritious food.

In this endeavour, essay writing competitions were also organised on the premises of schools and colleges and they also held rallies with active participation of students for generating awareness among public.

CDPO Harsha Vardhan and Nirmala also explained about the importance of intake of nutritious food at the Anganwadi centre, inside the college. The programme was attended by DC Umesh, DPA, Tirupathi Reddy, BC Srinivas, school teachers, college lecturers and Anganwadi teachers and students in large numbers. The students also undertook 'Poshan Pratigya.'

Poshan Abhiyaan is a multi-ministerial convergence mission with the vision to ensure attainment of malnutrition-free India by 2022. The objective of Poshan Abhiyaan is to reduce stunting in children in identified Districts of India with the highest malnutrition burden by improving utilization of key Anganwadi Services and improving the quality of services delivered at Anganwadis.

It aims to ensure holistic development and adequate nutrition for pregnant women, mothers and children. The Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) is implementing the scheme throughout the country.

According to Ministry, there are a number of schemes directly/indirectly affecting the nutritional status of children (0-6 years old) and pregnant women and lactating mothers.

Poshan Abhiyaan was launched in March 2018. It targets to reduce the level of under-nutrition and other related problems by ensuring convergence of various nutrition related schemes. It also targets stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and low birth rate.