Third Rashtriya Poshan Maah being celebrated in the month of September

The 3^rd Rashtriya Poshan Maah is being celebrated during the month of September 2020. Every year the Poshan Maah is celebrated under POSHAN Abhiyaan (PM’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment), which was launched in 2018. Ministry of Women and Child Development, being the nodal Ministry for POSHAN Abhiyaan, is celebrating the Poshan Maah in convergence with partner Ministries and departments, at  National, States/UTs, Districts, and grass root level. The objective of the Poshan Maah is to encourage Jan Bhagidaari, in order to create a Jan Andolan, for addressing malnutrition amongst young children, and women and to ensure health and nutrition for everyone.

The importance of Nutrition in our lives was recently emphasized by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in the recent edition of his popular programme “Mann ki Baat” on 30^th August 2020. The Prime Minister drew attention towards the role played by nutrition in helping children and students to attain their optimum potential. He also noted the efforts made during the past few years especially in villages where public participation in nutrition week & nutrition month (Poshan Maah) is converting nutrition awareness into a mass movement.

Smt Smriti Zubin Irani, Union Minister of Women & Child Development and Textiles had chaired an inter-ministerial meeting on 27^th August 2020 and Shri Ram Mohan Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development interacted with all States and UTs to secure convergent activities during Poshan Maah. Identification of Severely Acute Malnourished (SAM) Children and their management and plantation of Poshan Vaatikas– Nutri gardens, will be undertaken as focus activities during Poshan Maah, along with awareness generation regarding importance of early breast feeding, Need for good nutrition during first 1000 days of life, measures for reducing Anaemia in young women and children etc.

All the stakeholder Ministries have expressed their commitment to the objective of Poshan Maah and planned activities to bring Nutrition in focus through their verticals. Department of School Education, Ministry of Education has asked States to conduct Nutrition e-quiz and Meme making competition amongst students. Ministry of Panchayati Raj is planning to conduct special Committee meetings in every gram Panchayat during the month. Ministry of Rural Development has advised States to promote Nutri-gardens with the support of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA. Ministry of Ayush has offered to support building a healthy lifestyle by adopting Yoga and holistic nutrition. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has also extended its cooperation for all the activities in the best possible manner.

Considering the prevalent COVID situation in the Country, Ministry of Women and Child Development is encouraging all stakeholders to use digital platforms for celebrating Poshan Maah. Social media, online activities, Podcasts, and e-Samvaad etc will be used to disseminate knowledge and information about importance of Nutrition in our lives. Ministry is also hosting a Webinar series, in which subject experts and Health Professionals will throw light on important aspects of health and nutrition for women and children.

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APS/SG