Question : Nutritious Food under POSHAN Abhiyaan

(a) whether the Government has proposed to provide additional nutrition for children through Anganwadi in the country under POSHAN scheme;
(b) whether any survey has been conducted so far to collect data on the requirements to finalize the supply and if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has appointed any agency for the procurement and supply of the food in this regard and if so, the details thereof; and
(d) the mechanism adopted for the proper monitoring of the POSHAN project?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) to (c) Under the Anganwadi Services of the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, Supplementary Nutrition is provided to children6 months to 3 yearsin the form of Take Home Ration and Morning Snacks and Hot Cooked Meals are provided to children of 3 years to 6 years of age as per the provisions of the National Food Security Act, 2013. The Supplementary Nutrition is provided to bridge the gap between the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) and the Average Daily Intake (ADI) among this age group as per the nutritional norms provided under Schedule II of the Act. There is no proposal to provide additional nutrition for children through Anganwadis in the country under POSHAN Abhiyaan.Anganwadi Services under UmbrellaICDS Scheme is a centrally sponsored scheme which is implemented, managed and monitored by the concerned State Governments/UT Administrations.

(d) NITI Aayog is closely monitoring the status of implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan. Further, there is a National Nutrition Resource Centre (NNRC) at National level and State Nutrition Resource Centre (SNRC) at State level to closely monitor the implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan. Regular reviews and meetings are also conducted at National and State/UTs level to monitor the progress of implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan. National Council under the Chairmanship of Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog and the Executive Committee also monitor the progress of POSHAN Abhiyaan regularly. ICDS-Common Application Software captures data on weight and height of children, opening of Anganwadi Centres, distribution of Take Home Ration, attendance of children for pre-school education at Anganwadi Centres. This data/information is then made available for monitoring on web-based ICDS-CAS dashboard to the supervisory staff at Block, District, State and National level.
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