India underspends on nutrition, new programme yet to be implemented

The guidelines of the restructured scheme, Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0, are still being worked out and POSHAN 2.0 has not yet been approved, an RTI response revealed

In 2021, the government consolidated several programmes for children, adolescent girls and creches, supplementary nutrition and POSHAN (Prime Minister's Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) into an umbrella programme called Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0. But there is confusion over the objectives and implementation of the new programme, and the government continues to underspend on nutrition, our analysis found. 

"Allocations for anganwadi services, supplementary nutrition, and POSHAN Abhiyaan are grossly inadequate and also not even keeping pace with inflation," said Dipa Sinha, an assistant professor at Ambedkar University. 

As the budget for the next financial year will be presented before Parliament