Minister stresses on accelerating nutrition outcomes

Visakhapatnam: Minister for Women Development and Child Welfare Gummadi Sandhya Rani emphasised the need to accelerate nutrition outcomes through improved service quality, stronger interdepartmental convergence and evidence-based interventions.

At the inaugural session of the state-level consultation on ‘accelerating nutrition results in Andhra Pradesh’ here on Tuesday, she highlighted the state’s Swarna Andhra vision, the Minister said that development goes beyond infrastructure and economic growth to include healthy mothers, children, empowered women and a strong future generation. The department is moving beyond a traditional welfare-oriented approach towards human capital development by investing in the health, nutrition, education and capabilities of people, Sandhya Rani said.

Acknowledging Andhra Pradesh’s progress in reducing child malnutrition and strengthening Anganwadi services, the minister stressed that the next phase must focus on improving service quality, accelerating results and reaching vulnerable and underserved populations. In view of rapid urbanisation, she highlighted urban nutrition as a key priority noting that Emphasising investment in adolescent girls, Sandhya Rani called for a comprehensive approach addressing anaemia, healthy diets, menstrual health, life skills, prevention of child marriage and early pregnancy, and improved educational and livelihood opportunities. The state-level consultation, supported by the World Bank’s technical assistance in collaboration with the Government of India and NITI Aayog, brought together government representatives, experts, researchers and development partners to identify practical, evidence-based and scalable solutions for Andhra Pradesh.

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