Union Ministers Smriti Zubin Irani and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi to attend Nutrition Awareness Programmes in Mumbai

New Delhi: A series of “Poshan Jagrukta Abhiyaan” (Nutrition Awareness Campaign) programmes under “Poshan Maah” is being organised at various places of Mumbai, among different sections of society, on Monday, September 6, 2021. Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani and Union Minister for Minority Affairs Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi will attend these programmes, which are being organized jointly by the Union Ministry for Women and Child Development and Union Ministry for Minority Affairs.

The nutrition awareness programmes are being held at Anjuman-I-Islam Girls School, S V Road, Bazaar Road, Bandra West; Mahatma Gandhi Sewa Mandir Hall, S V Road, Bandra West; Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Near Sion Railway Station; and Parzor Foundation’s The Dadar Athornan Institute, Firdausi Road, Mancherji Joshi Parsi Colony, Dadar, Mumbai; on September 6, 2021.

Women belonging to Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Parsi, Jain and Sikh communities and from poor and backward areas will attend the Poshan Abhiyaan programmes in Mumbai, along with their family members. They will be informed about the benefits of nutrition. Nutrition Kits will also be distributed on the occasion.

Before attending the POSHAN Abhiyaan programmes, the Women and Child Development Minister will visit an ICDS (Integrated Child Development Services) Centre in Dharavi and hold discussions with ICDS beneficiaries and NGOs, on the same day, September 6, 2021. She will also visit the homes of citizens availing benefits under the scheme.

Earlier, kickstarting POSHAN Maah on September 1, 2021, the WCD Minister said that the Government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, launched POSHAN Abhiyan in March 2018 to combat malnutrition. “Since the launch of POSHAN Abhiyaan, the month of September is observed as ‘POSHAN Maah’ with a view to carry out special dedicated activities ushering in behavioural change in the society. While POSHAN Maah 2019 saw 3.66 crore activities being conducted across India, the year 2020 witnessed commencement of massive plantation drive & developing nutri-garden across Anganwadis and public spaces. 12.84 lakh plantation drives were carried out during POSHAN Maah 2020.”

The Minority Affairs Minister said that “Poshan Abhiyaan” assumes significance as the country celebrates “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”, 75 years of India’s independence. “The Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has worked with commitment to good health and well-being of girls and women. Schemes such as Poshan Abhiyaan, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Mission Indradhanush, Swachh Bharat Mission and Ujjwala Yojana are examples.”

Members of Parliament Smt. Poonam Mahajan, Shri Gopal Shetty, Shri Manoj Kotak and Shri Rahul Rajesh Shewale; Minister for Women and Child Development, Government of Maharashtra, Smt. Yashomati Chandrakant Thakur; MLAs Shri M. P. Lodha and Shri Ashish Shellar; Secretary, Union Women and Child Development Ministry, Shri Indevar Pandey; Secretary, Union Ministry of Minority Affairs, Smt. Renuka Kumar; Secretary NCM and CMD NMDFC, Shri S K Dev Verman; Joint Secretary, Union Women and Child Development Ministry, Smt. Pallavi Agrawal and other senior officials, as well as Anjuman-I-Islam President, Dr Zahir Kazi; Bombay Parsi Punchayet Chairperson Ms. Armaity Tirandaz and other prominent people from social and education fields will attend the Poshan Abhiyaan awareness campaign at various places in Mumbai.

On POSHAN Abhiyaan

POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition) Abhiyaan is Government of India’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers. Launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on the occasion of International Women’s Day on 8 March, 2018, the Abhiyaan seeks to address the issue of malnutrition in mission-mode.

Mission Poshan 2.0 (Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0) has been announced in the Budget 2021-2022 as an integrated nutrition support programme, to strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach and outcomes, with a focus on developing practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity to disease and malnutrition.

POSHAN Maah 2021

This year, as India celebrates the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, to ensure speedy and intensive outreach, POSHAN Maah 2021 is being observed in a thematic fashion. The entire month of September 2021 been subdivided into weekly themes, for focused and assimilated approach towards improving holistic nutrition. The Ministry of Women and Child Development has planned a series of activities throughout the month in tandem with states and union territories. Details can be found here.

Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme

The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme is one of the flagship programmes of the Government of India and represents one of the world’s largest and unique programmes for early childhood care and development. It is the foremost symbol of country’s commitment to its children and nursing mothers, as a response to the challenge of providing pre-school non-formal education on one hand and breaking the vicious cycle of malnutrition, morbidity, reduced learning capacity and mortality on the other. The beneficiaries under the Scheme are children in the age group of 0-6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers.