WCD against NITI Aayog's cash transfer proposal in nutrition mission

The Women and Child Development Ministry is not in favour of NITI Aayog's proposal of Direct Cash Transfer (DCT) for the nutrition mission 'Poshan Abhiyaan', parliament was told on Thursday.

Minister of State for Women and Child Development Virendra Kumar, told the Rajya Sabha in answer to a question that his ministry has not agreed with the proposal of NITI Aayog for DCT in lieu of Take Home Ration (THR) to pregnant and lactating mothers under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).

According to an WCD official, Union Woman and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi had been vocal about her opposition to the idea of replacing door-to-door ration with DCT as she believed that cash amount might not be sufficient for mothers to purchase the basic nutrient food items.

"On pilot basis, THR was introduced in Jharkhand and it turned out be 97 per cent successful as reported by a survey. On the basis of the report, the Minister had asked the NITI Aayog to rethink about their proposal," a ministry official said.

The 'Poshan Abhiyaan' was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March from Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu and the government also took a loan of $200 million from World Bank for implementing the scheme which will cover all 315 districts across various states and union territories.

--IANS

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