Date: 2026-04-01Category: Press ReleaseState: Union GovernmentCountry: India
Adopting a whole of Government approach, both Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare undertake targeted interventions to improve health and nutritional status of children in the country
**Executive Summary**
This report outlines the collaborative initiatives by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) to address malnutrition through "Mission Poshan 2.0." The mission targets children under 6, pregnant and lactating women, and adolescent girls, utilizing revised nutrition norms established in January 2023. Key ongoing action items include monthly Community Based Events and annual sensitisation drives held in September and March-April.
**Key Points / Main Content**
**Mission Framework and Scope**
* **Whole-of-Government Approach:** MoWCD and MoHFW collaborate on targeted interventions to identify and manage Severe Acute Malnutrition and improve child health.
* **Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0:** A centrally sponsored umbrella mission that subsumes Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan, and the Scheme for Adolescent Girls.
* **Target Beneficiaries:** Includes children under 6 years, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and adolescent girls (ages 14-18 in Northeastern States and Aspirational Districts).
**Nutrition Standards and Data**
* **Revised Nutrition Norms:** Updated in January 2023, the norms shifted from being calorie-specific to a comprehensive "diet diversity" approach.
* **Nutritional Quality:** Supplementary nutrition now focuses on quality protein, healthy fats, and seven essential micronutrients (Calcium, Zinc, Iron, Dietary Folate, Vitamin-A, Vitamin-B6, and Vitamin B-12).
* **Health Findings:** According to the Cause of Death Report (2021-23), malnutrition has not been identified as a direct cause of death in children aged 0-4 years.
**Community Engagement and Advocacy**
* **Jan Andolans:** Regular sensitisation activities are conducted during Poshan Maah (September) and Poshan Pakhwada (March-April).
* **Community Based Events (CBEs):** Anganwadi workers are mandated to conduct two CBEs per month to improve nutritional practices. Since 2018, 9.8 crore CBEs have been conducted.
**Technological Monitoring**
* **Poshan Tracker:** An ICT-based governance tool used for real-time data collection.
* **Monitoring Capabilities:** The application tracks growth (stunting, wasting, underweight prevalence), daily attendance at Anganwadi Centres, and the provision of Hot Cooked Meals (HCM) or Take Home Rations (THR).
**Impact Analysis**
**Ministry of Women and Child Development & Ministry of Health and Family Welfare**
**Impact:** These ministries serve as the central authorities for policy-making and data maintenance (specifically anaemia records and malnutrition statistics).
**Action Required:** Continue targeted interventions and coordinate with the Registrar General of India for mortality and health data.
**State and Union Territory (UT) Governments**
**Impact:** States and UTs bear the primary responsibility for the ground-level implementation of Mission Poshan 2.0 activities.
**Action Required:** Implement mission activities, conduct regular Jan Andolans, and report sensitisation results to the central government.
**Anganwadi Workers**
**Impact:** Frontline workers are responsible for service delivery and digital reporting.
**Action Required:** Conduct two Community Based Events monthly and utilize the Poshan Tracker app for real-time monitoring of growth, attendance, and meal distribution.
**Beneficiaries (Children, Women, and Adolescent Girls)**
**Impact:** Beneficiaries receive higher quality, micronutrient-rich supplementary nutrition and improved health monitoring.
**Action Required:** Access services at Anganwadi Centres and participate in community-led nutritional awareness programs.
Key Entities Referenced
Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0: An ongoing Centrally Sponsored umbrella mission targeting the nutritional status of children under 6, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and adolescent girls.
National Food Security Act 2013: The legislation that mandates supplementary nutrition norms under Schedule-II, which were revised and upgraded in January 2023.
Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD): The primary ministry responsible for the implementation of Mission Poshan 2.0 and the management of nutritional interventions.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW): The ministry that collaborates in nutritional interventions and maintains data on anaemia and health status under the National Family Health Survey.
Poshan Tracker: An ICT-based governance tool and digital application used for real-time data collection, growth monitoring, and tracking of nutritional services.
Ministry of Women and Child Development
Adopting a whole of Government approach, both
Ministry of Women and Child Development and
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare undertake
targeted interventions to improve health and
nutritional status of children in the country
Posted On: 01 APR 2026 12:35PM by PIB Delhi
Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition in the country and has taken several
initiatives to break the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition. Adopting a whole of Government approach,
both the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) and Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare (MoHFW) undertake targeted interventions to improve the health and nutritional status of
children in the country, including identification and management of children with Severe Acute
Malnutrition.
Primarily, MoHFW keeps record of children and women suffering from anaemia. State-wise, data on
prevalence of anaemia among children and women in the country under National Family Health Survey
(NFHS)-5 is available at the given link: https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR375/FR375.pdf. As per the
Cause of Death Report (2021-23) released by the Sample Registration System-Registrar General of India
(SRS-RGI), malnutrition has not been identified as a direct cause of death in children under 0-4 years in
the country. The details are available here at the given link:
https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/46176.
Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0) is an ongoing Centrally Sponsored
umbrella Mission of MoWCD wherein children under 6 years of age, Pregnant women, Lactating mothers
and Adolescent girls (age 14-18 years, in Northeastern States and Aspirational Districts) are the
beneficiaries covered in the whole country. The responsibility for implementation of various activities
under the Mission lies with the States and UTs. The umbrella Mission has subsumed; Anganwadi services,
Poshan Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent girls.
Under the Mission Poshan 2.0, Supplementary Nutrition is provided to the beneficiaries in accordance
with the nutrition norms contained in Schedule-II of the National Food Security Act 2013. These norms
have been revised and upgraded in January 2023. The old norms were largely calorie-specific; however,
the revised norms are more comprehensive and balanced in terms of both quantity and quality of
supplementary nutrition based on the principles of diet diversity that provides for quality protein, healthy
fats and 7 essential micronutrients (Calcium, Zinc, Iron, Dietary Folate, Vitamin-A, Vitamin-B6 and
Vitamin B-12).
One of the major activities undertaken the Mission is Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy
to educate people on nutritional aspects. State and UTs are conducting and reporting regular sensitisation
activities under Jan Andolans during Poshan Maah and Poshan Pakhwada celebrated in the months of
September and March-April respectively. Also, Community Based Events (CBEs) have served as asignificant strategy in changing nutritional practices and all Anganwadi workers are required to conduct
two Community Based Events every month. A total of 9.8 crore CBEs and more than 150 crore Jan
Andolan activities have been conducted since 2018 through 15 Jan Andolans.
Ministry has also introduced Poshan Tracker digital application an ICT based Governance tool. This
technology is being leveraged for dynamic identification of stunting, wasting, underweight prevalence
among children. It has facilitated near real time data collection for Anganwadi Services such as, opening
of AWCs, daily attendance of children, ECCE activities, growth measurement and monitoring of children,
provision of Hot Cooked Meal (HCM)/Take Home Ration (THR).
This information was given by the Minister of State for Women and Child Development Smt. Savitri
Thakur in Rajya Sabha in reply to a question.
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SS
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