Focusing on nutrition in a big way, the central government has launched the Poshan Pakhwada across the country to mark the first anniversary of the POSHAN Abhiyan. Poshan Melas, rallies, awareness sessions at schools, visits to the homes of newborns, workshops are among the many activities planned to mark the fortnight-long event.
The March 8-22, 2019 Pakhwada is being celebrated as part of a Jan Andolan or mass movement. It was launched on March 8, that is observed as International Women’s Day.
Earlier, Minister for Women and Child Development, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, said the Poshan Pakhwada will be celebrated on the lines of ‘Poshan Maah’ held in the month of September 2018. She said the Ministry of Women & Child Development is the nodal ministry for coordinating activities during the month, and accordingly, the State/UT WCD/Social Welfare Department will be the nodal department for the role. The event will be celebrated in convergence mode.
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The key activities under the Pakhwada include Poshan Melas, rallies on nutrition at all levels, prabhat pheris or groups of people taking early morning rounds around the village or area while singing songs about nutrition. Other activities include sessions on nutrition in schools, self-help group meetings, anaemia camps, growth monitoring of children, home visits of newborn babies by the Anganwadi Workers (AWW) and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Day (VHSND) Community Based Events (CBE) will be carried out.
In addition, Information Education and Communication activities will be carried out through mass media, mid-media (use of folk groups) and social media during the Poshan Pakhwada.
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Social Media Campaigns with the hashtag #PoshanPakhwada through media partners and the team of Swasth Bharat Preraks are to be carried out for maximum reach. Awareness on nutrition in urban area will also be focused on. A workshop on Agri-Nutrition is also planned on March 15 as part of the Pakhwada.
The ministries to partner with the WCD Ministry in the Pakhwada, include the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Rural Development, Human Resource & Development, Information & Broadcasting, Panchayati Raj, Tribal Affairs, Housing and Urban Affairs, Electronics and Information Technology, Minority Affairs, AYUSH, Sports & Youths Affairs, Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare and Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. At the grass root level, platforms like Gram Sabhas, self-help groups, and field functionaries across various Ministries and schemes will be used.
The Jan Andolan Guidelines which are Multi-Sectoral and cover 12 basic themes will be utilised to activate various platforms at the ground level. The Jan Andolan dashboard on the website http://poshanabhiyaan.gov.in will have a separate tab to reflect aggregated outcomes of the Poshan Pakhwada. The entry of all activities will be made on periodical basis at block level. Previously, the Poshan Maah had garnered 25 crore participation across 22 lakh activities across the country.
All the concerned Ministries/Departments and States/UTs will play a key role in implementing various activities during the Pakhwada, as was done during Poshan Maah.
Activities are to be carried out by all the Ministries/Departments by involving all the concerned Departments of States/UTs, down to the grassroots level by including all the field functionaries during the Pakhwada. The Ministries/Departments and States/UTs could also add any other activities for creating awareness.
