Cabinet approves National Nutrition Mission

New Delhi:The Union Cabinet on Friday approved the National Nutrition Mission to ensure holistic development and adequate nutrition for adolescent girls, pregnant women, mothers and children, official sources said.

The Ministry for Women and Child Development said the government was committed to ensure that adequate nutrition to every child and pregnant woman and lactating mother and to eliminate malnutrition and stunting.

The mission results will be visible within a year, if the government remains on the right track, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi told reporters after the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Ministry said it had actively leveraged on technology to address malnutrition, including development of software and its implementation in 50,000 anganwadis.

The Ministry has designed a real-time monitoring system 'ICDS-CAS' to track nutrition goals and anganwadi functionality.

It said fund allocations were increased to address nutrition needs of children, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and adolescent girls.