Poshan (Nutrition) Tracker

Poshan (Nutrition) Tracker

Subject – Governance

Context – Data recorded in the Poshan (Nutrition) Tracker have not been made public in the interest of privacy of women and children, the government told Parliament last week

Concept –

• The tracker is one of the important pillars of the Poshan Abhiyan and helps the government monitor services delivered at 12.3 lakh anganwadi centres and record nutritional indicators of 9.8 lakh beneficiaries, including children in the age of six months to six years as well as pregnant women and lactating mothers.
• It was earlier known asknown as the ICDS-CAS (Integrated Child Development Services-Common Application Software).
• The Poshan Tracker App has been launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development(MoWCD).
• Anganwadis provide six services, which include supplementary nutrition in the form of hot-cooked meals and take-home ration, immunisation and pre-school education.
• On its Poshan Tracker website (https://poshantracker.in/), the government hosts a dashboard which provides only limited administrative details at national, State and district levels.
  • This includes total attendance on a given day, vaccinations, take-home ration and hot cooked meals delivered.
  • But it provides no information on the nutrition status of the beneficiaries such as stunting and wasting among children or prevalence of anaemia.

POSHAN Abhiyaan

• The Abhiyaan targets to reduce stunting, under nutrition, anaemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls) and reduce low birth weight by 2%, 2%, 3% and 2% per annum respectively.
• The target of the mission is to bring down stunting among children in the age group 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% by 2022.
• POSHAN Abhiyaan aims to ensure service delivery and interventions by use of technology, behavioural change through convergence and lays-down specific targets to be achieved across different monitoring parameters.
• Under the Abhiyaan, Swasth Bharat Preraks will be deployed one in each district for coordinating with district officials and enabling fast and efficient execution of the Abhiyaan across the country.
  • Swasth Bharat Preraks would function as catalyst for fast tracking the implementation of the Abhiyaan.

Poshan 2.0

• Ministry for Women and Child Development inaugurated Poshan 2.0 and urged all Aspirational Districts to establish a Poshan Vatika (nutrition garden) during the Nutrition Month (Poshan Mah) in September.
• A month-long celebration of the POSHAN Abhiyan mission places special attention on Severe Acute Malnourished (SAM) children.
• Poshan Vatika – It’s main objective is to ensure supply of nutrition through organically home grown vegetables and fruits simultaneously ensuring that the soil must also remain healthy.
  • Plantation drives for Poshan Vatikas would be taken up by all the stakeholders in the space available at anganwadis, school premises and gram panchayats.

To know about POSHAN Maah, please refer September 2021 DPN.