Shylla inaugurates conference

Addressing on the occasion, Shylla said that the conference is to sensitize all stakeholders about the Poshan Abhiyan and the Rashtriya Poshan Maah and to seek measures to address the problem of malnutrition in the State and the country at large.

He added that there is a need to work across institutional boundaries and reach out through various departments for achieving the shared vision of reducing and thereby eradicating malnutrition and under nutrition among children, pregnant and lactating mothers in the State.

The Minister informed that the government and the Department of Social Welfare is committed to ensure that the nutritional status of children and women in the State improves and hoped that all stakeholders will do their part in a coordinated manner so that the anticipated success of the nutritional campaign will be achieved.

During his address Additional Chief Secretary, Social Welfare  H Marwein informed that the objective of the Poshan Abhiyaan is to eliminate mal nutrition by 2022 in the country and the focus is to achieve the results through convergence of various line departments. He added that this National Nutrition Mission though its intervention will strive to reduce stunting, under nutrition, anemia and low birth babies. He further said that with the incentivizing of the Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) for using IT based tools the need of maintaining registers by the AWWs will be eliminated.

Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, GoM, Pravin Bakshi, in his address informed that the figures of nutritional stunting and wasting in the State is highest in the country and this calls for concerted and coordinated action.

Earlier, delivering the Key Note Address on Poshan Abhiyaan, Commissioner & Secretary, Social Welfare, T Dkhar informed that the National Nutrition Mission launched by the Prime Minister in March 2018, calls for active participation and convergence of concerned departments. He added that the State Level conference is to create awareness as well as to sensitize all concerned stakeholders about the concept of the flagship programme of the Central government to implement the programme in the right earnest to improve the nutritional status of children and women.

The National Nutrition Mission (NNM) has been set up with a three year budget of Rs.9046.17 crore commencing from 2017-18. The NNM is a comprehensive approach towards raising nutrition level in the country on a war footing. It will comprise mapping of various Schemes contributing towards addressing malnutrition, including a very robust convergence mechanism, ICT based Real Time Monitoring system, incentivizing States/UTs for meeting the targets, incentivizing Anganwadi Workers (AWWs) for using IT based tools, eliminating registers used by AWWs, introducing measurement of height of children at the Anganwadi Centres (AWCs), Social Audits, setting-up Nutrition Resource Centres, involving masses through Jan Andolan for their participation on nutrition through various activities, among others.

NNM targets to reduce stunting, under-nutrition, anemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively. Although the target to reduce Stunting is at least 2% p.a., Mission would strive to achieve reduction in Stunting from 38.4% (NFHS-4) to 25% by 2022 (Mission 25 by 2022). More than 10 crore people will be benefitted by this programme. All the States and districts will be covered in a phased manner i.e. 315 districts in 2017-18, 235 districts in 2018-19 and remaining districts in 2019-20.

The conference was attended by officials from PHE, Education, Food and Civil Supplies, Health and C & RD departments. The Business Session post the inauguration comprised of overview on Poshan Abhiyaan and Rashtriya Poshan Abhiyaan and presentation by various line departments.

By Our Reporter