Centre explores partnership with Bill Gates Foundation on malnutrition

The central government on Friday said it was exploring a potential partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to address India's burden of maternal and childhood malnutrition.

At a meeting with the foundation's co-chair Melinda Gates, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said: "We recognise that we need to take the problem of malnutrition in a mission mode with a physical target-driven approach for progressively eliminating the problem."

Gandhi also spoke about plans to launch the National Nutrition Mission in the coming weeks by her ministry, a statement said.

"In the new mission, we will attempt reaching out to every malnutritioned child with coordinated and targeted delivery of health and supplementary nutrition services," she said.

"There will be extensive use of technology to re-equip the Aanganwadi workers, build the capacity of the workers and monitor the progress on a real-time basis. I welcome the willingness of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to partner with us, in order to ensure that every child has the best possible start in life," she said.

Gates applauded the efforts of the minister for making nutrition a priority and assured full support from her foundation.

She stated that the foundation will support the women and child development ministry and design a programme for the real-time monitoring of nutritional services that will be extended under the nutrition mission.

She further stated that the foundation will also assist in training of master trainers, who will in-turn train the Anganwadi workers.

"I am happy to see that the government has recognized the need for a renewed focus on maternal and child malnutrition. I believe that every child deserves the chance to live a healthy and productive life, and nutrition plays a critical role in their physical and cognitive development," Gates said.

Both sides also discussed at length about the work needed on health and development issues which are adversely affecting Indian women and girls.