National Nutrition Mission: An Analysis

INTRODUCTION

National Nutrition Mission is also known as the Poshan Abhiyan. This program was started by the government of India to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.

The program was launched in 2017 and since then only 3 or 4 states have been able to utilize the funds released by the government.

The program was launched by the prime minister on the occasion of International Women's Day on 8 March 2018 with a view to improving the health of pregnant women, lactating mothers and children, and this mission directs the attention of the country towards the problem of malnutrition.

According to a report, except Lakshadweep, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Bihar, no other government has used even half of the sum granted in the past three years and this data was shared in parliament.

The five best performers were Mizoram (65.12%), Lakshadweep (61.08%), Bihar (55.17%), Himachal Pradesh (53.29%) and Meghalaya (48.37%). The worst five performers were Punjab (0.45%), Karnataka (0.74%), Kerala (8.75%), Jharkhand (13.94%) and Assam (23.01%).

During 2019-20, funds were released for 19 states, though 12 of them had used less than a third of the funds released in the previous two years.

SALIENT FEATURES OF THE MISSION

● Ensuring convergence with various programmers; Incentivizing states/ UTs for achieving goals

● It enables real-time monitoring (ICT-RTM)

● Weighing efficiency and making nutrition visible

● Community mobilization awareness

● Jan Andolan - to educate the people on nutritional aspects

● Online course on nutrition for children

● Nutrition message from folk songs and songs on WASH

● Sending messages on nutrition and also creating ring-tones

● Yoga for children at AWCs.

● Strengthening human resource

● Measuring the height and length of children below 6 years of age

● Coverage of districts in a phased manner is 315 district in 2017-18, 235 districts in 2018-19 and remaining districts in 2019-20

● The total budget for the Poshan Abhiyan is Rs. 9046.17 crore with GOI share of 2849.54 crores.

WHY WAS IT LAUNCHED?

National Nutrition Mission aims to reduce the level of stunting, undernutrition, anemia, and low birth rate weight babies. The Mission strives to achieve a reduction in stunting from 38.4% to 25% by 2022; also known as mission 25 by 2022.

To ensure a holistic approach, all 36 states/UTs and district have covered the goal of Poshan Abhiyan (National Nutrition Mission) are yet to achieve improvement in nutritional status of children from 0 to 6 years, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers in a time-bound manner during the three years with fixed targets that are as follows:

● Prevent and reduce stunting in children by 6% at the rate of 2% per Annum

● Prevent and reduce under-nutrition (underweight prevalence) in children (0 to 6) years by 6% at the rate of 2% per Annum

● Reduce the prevalence of anemia among young children 6 to 5 month by 9% at the rate of 3% per Annum

● Reduce the prevalence of anemia among women and adolescent girls in the age group of 15 to 49 years by 9% at the rate of 3% per Annum

● Reduce low birth weight by 6% at the rate of 2% per Annum

NUTRITION DEFICIT IN INDIA

In India, 20% of children under 5 years of age are suffering due to acute undernutrition. More than ⅓ of the world's children are wasted live in India. 43% of Indian children under 5 years of age are underweight and 4% that is 61 million children are stunted due to chronic undernutrition, India accounts for more than 3 out of 10 stunted children in the world. undernutrition is substantially higher and rural than in urban areas. A short worth interval is associated with a higher level of undernutrition.

STATUS AND MISSION - RESULTS DELIVERED SO FAR

The clear goal of this mission is the expediting rate of reduction in overweight, stunting, low birth weight, and anemia in a time-bound manner with clear targets that is 2% reduction in stunting, overweight, wasting and low birth weight per annum and 3% reduction in anemia in women and adolescent girls. Initial reports are encouraging stunting rates have come down to 34.7% as per Government sources.

When we talk about the results delivered till now. then this scheme is doing good for those who are living in miserable conditions. This means that the mission is clearly helping those who are unable to help themselves. Global, as well as domestic experiences, show the effectiveness of deficit cash transfers in improving healthy survivors. Bihar demonstrated direct cash transfer resulting in improve nutritional outcomes.

So this scheme of the mission states was able to bring them out of malnutrition. Children's health is being monitored through Anganwadi Center’s and the community participation has been encouraged in the malnutrition management program.

Around 70% of the identified children have come out of the vicious cycle of malnutrition only in Rajasthan. In other states, they are doing their best to help them come out from this and this mission helps them to achieve the goal.

CONCLUSION

Under-nutrition jeopardizes the children's survival health, growth, and development and it slows national progress towards development goals. Undernutrition is often an invisible problem.

There is a critical window of opportunity to prevent undernutrition by taking care of the nutrition of children in the first two years of life, girls, during adolescence and mothers during pregnancy and lactating mothers when proven nutrition and nutrition of our children the best chance of survival and reads the optimal level of growth and development.

The milk produced by the mother just after delivery during the first postpartum days, provides protective antibodies and essential nutrients, acting as first natural Immunisation for newborns, strengthening their immune system and reducing the chance of deaths in the neonatal period. So I think it will be of very much importance to educate people about the importance of the mother’s milk during the birth of a child. Not only this but also the government services like health care post-birth of a child Are also of very much importance. But the making of the policy itself does not serve the purpose we have to go a step further which is implementation or execution of the policy on the ground. This can be insured by better management and governance in the country. It is one of the best and most ambitious plans that any government can take to improve public health and nutrition still it needs to be better in terms of preparation as well as surveillance that is the mechanism by which it can have an eye over the process to get the best out of the policy. The sincerity and the capability also have to be there to help match the dreams that are to come true and thereby make India free from malnutrition in the children.

[Author Alok Kumar is a 3rd Year student at Maharaja Agrasen Institute Of Management Studies]

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4. The Hindu, NITI Aayog program, https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/nutrition-mission-awareness-has-surpassed-our-expectations/article29493379.ece/amp/

5. GKtoday, Bhartiya Poshan Abhiyaan, https://currentaffairs.gktoday.in/tags/national-nutrition-mission