New Delhi, Sep 9 (IANS): In keeping with the observance of Rashtriya Poshan Maah (National Nutrition Month) every September, mobilising communities and reinforcing key nutrition, health and caregiving behaviours among pregnant women, lactating mothers, children, adolescents, and their families, the ninth edition this year will be launched on Wednesday at the Rudraksh International Cooperation and Convention Centre in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi.
Over successive Poshan Maah campaigns, awareness and positive behaviour change have been strengthened on maternal nutrition, infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices, growth monitoring and hygiene, alongside broader efforts to improve nutrition outcomes across the country.
Last year’s event was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17 from Dhar in Madhya Pradesh, along with the “Swasth Nari, Sashakt Parivar Abhiyaan (SNSPA)”.
This year’s campaign aims to recognise the importance of Anganwadi centres, the world’s largest childcare network delivering essential care and support to children in even the most remote communities.
The central theme this year is “Hamari Anganwadi Hamari Jimmedari”, calling upon every citizen to take shared ownership of such centres.
It seeks to place these centres at the heart of community-led action for nutrition, care and early childhood development, while strengthening collective ownership and accountability for Poshan.
The 2026 event is proposed to be anchored in five mutually reinforcing priorities. These include promotion of dietary diversity, with a focus on adequate protein intake, diverse food groups and local foods.
It also ensures that beneficiaries get fresh, diverse, and nutritious hot cooked meals as central to improving the quality, utilisation, and effectiveness of Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP), while encouraging regular attendance at Anganwadi centres.
Additionally, it is aimed at strengthening community ownership and accountability for Poshan through the newly constituted Anganwadi Management Committees and the display of SNP Menu Boards.
The campaign also seeks promoting cognitive development and adequate nutrition as fundamental pillars of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), highlighting the inseparable link between what a child eats and how a child learns.
Rashtriya Poshan Maah 2026 will also commemorate 10 years of the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), India’s flagship maternity benefit programme.
It will highlight PMMVY’s contribution in supporting maternal nutrition, promoting health-seeking behaviours, and providing income support during pregnancy, while reinforcing the critical importance of maternal nutrition and care during the first 1,000 days of life for healthy growth, cognitive development, and lifelong well-being.
Meanwhile, the Poshan Tracker, launched on March 1, 2021, serves as the primary governance tool for monitoring infrastructure and service delivery that has facilitated near real-time data collection for Anganwadi Services.
At present, the system monitors a universe that consists of pregnant women, lactating mothers, children up to the age of six years, and adolescent girls.
As of July 31 this year, India’s nutrition infrastructure spans nearly 13.99 lakh Aanganwadi centres with a strength of 13.30 lakh workers, forming a vast grassroots network reaching around 8.94 crore beneficiaries.
Children remain the primary focus, with those aged between six months and six years accounting for more than 7.2 crore of all beneficiaries, underscoring the emphasis on early childhood nutrition and development.
Meanwhile, pregnant women and lactating mothers together number nearly 1.1 crore, reflecting sustained attention to maternal health during the critical first 1,000 days.
Malnutrition remains one of India’s most significant public health challenges, affecting the health, growth, learning and productivity of women and children across the life cycle.
To mount a coordinated response, the Union government launched POSHAN Abhiyaan in March 2018 as a multi-ministerial convergence mission placing nutrition at the centre of the development agenda.
In the Union Budget 2021–22, these interventions were integrated under Mission Poshan 2.0 – India’s unified National Nutrition Mission anchored by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
This consolidates three core schemes into one framework, Poshan Abhiyaan which includes technology-driven monitoring, Jan Andolan or mass mobilisation, and behavioural change.
Also, Anganwadi services and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) see to supplementary nutrition, hot cooked meals, and early childhood care.
Additionally, scheme for adolescent girls provide nutritional support for out-of-school, and adolescent girls.
