WCD developing online courses with National Institute of Nutrition for raising awareness

The Ministry of Women and Child Development is working with the National Institute of Nutrition for developing online courses to spread awareness about importance of nutrition, a senior official said.

The modules for the courses were presented during the second meeting of National Council on India's Nutrition Challenges under the 'Poshan Abhiyaan'.

The 'Poshan Abhiyan' is a programme aimed to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers and to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia and low birth weight in children.

These courses are planned to be hosted independently on the portals operated by the ministry and the National Institute of Nutrition, he said.

During the meeting yesterday, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said India cannot afford to have generations of stunted children and underlined the need for states to prioritise regular monitoring with efficient distribution of supplementary nutrition.

Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan and Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar were also present in the meeting.

Paswan said the success of the mission to fight malnutrition depends on stakeholders taking ownership. "Anganwadi workers at the front line should be adequately compensated and parents should join food inspections," Paswan had said at the meet.

Kumar launched guidelines for making the nutrition movement into a 'Jan Andolan', along with modules for yoga and a caller-tune ringtone for 'Poshan Abhiyaan'.

"We are taking the 'Poshan Abhiyaan' to the masses through block-level public events, social media campaigns, involvement of panchayats and recognising children as drivers of change," said NITI Aayog Member V K Paul, on how nutrition is becoming a public movement.

The 'Poshan Abhiyan' aims to bring down stunting among the children in the age group of 0-6 years from 38.4 per cent to 25 per cent by 2022.

The project will additionally ensure convergence of all nutrition-related schemes and provide performance-based incentives to states and community nutrition and health workers, facilitating a focus on results.