The Ministry of Women and Child Development would be celebrating POSHANA Maah in the entire month of September to mark the 75th year of Indian Independence. POSHAN Abhiyaan is the Government of India’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. The POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition) Abhiyaan directs the attention of the country towards the problem of malnutrition and addresses it in a mission mode.
The activities during the POSHAN Maah this year will broadly focus on plantation drive for POSHAN VATIKA by all the stakeholders in the space available at Anganwadis, School Premises, Gram Panchayats and other places. Plantation activity will focus on the planting of saplings of nutritious fruit trees, local vegetables and medicinal plants and herbs. Sensitization/awareness drive for COVID vaccination and Observance of COVID Protocols will also be held. There will be a special drive for Height and Weight Measurement for Children (under 6 Years of Age) during the PoshanMaah.Slogan writing and Recipe competitions will be organized to highlight the locally available nutritious food for pregnant women. There will be Sessions on “5-minute Yoga Protocol” (Y-break or yoga break) at various workplaces for the employees of Government and corporate bodies, Awareness campaign on the importance of regional/local food, Distribution of Nutrition Kits comprising of regional nutritious food (eg. Sukadi-Gujrat, Panjiri– Punjab, Sattu– Bihar, Chikki– Maharashtra), Anaemia Camps, Drive for block-wise Identification of SAM Children, Supervised Supplementary Feeding Program for SAM children as an initiative to tackle the prevalence of SAM in children up to the age of 5 years, Sensitisation for Community Management of Acute Malnutrition and Distribution of nutritious food for SAM children.
During the POSHAN Maah, activities related to nutrition awareness will be carried out across all the States/UTs right upto the grass root levels. The implementing departments /agencies like women and child development department through Anganwadi workers, health and family welfare department through ASHA, ANM, primary health centres, community health centres, school education and literacy department through schools, Panchayati Raj departments through panchayats, and rural development trough self-help groups will carry out the activities and spread the message of holistic nutrition throughout the month to ensure a healthier future for women and children.