Nutrition for all: Fifth Poshan Pakhwada celebrations in Assam

Assam is celebrating statewide the 5th Poshan Pakhwada from March 20 to April 3, 2023, with various activities. The Pakhwada aims to raise awareness about the importance of nutrition and promote healthy eating habits through Jan Andolan and Jan Bhagidari.

One of the main focus areas of the fifth Poshan Pakhwada is to create awareness about the significant role of millets in achieving food and nutrition security. “Nutrition for All: Together Towards a Healthy India,” is the theme of this year’s Poshan Pakhwada, 2023. On being requested by India, the United Nations General Assembly has declared the year 2023 as the International Year of Millets, which aims at contributing to the UN 2030 agenda for sustainable development, particularly SDG 2 (zero hunger), and SDG 3 (good health and well-being). With 2023 designated as the International Year of Millets, the aim of Poshan Pakhwada this year will be to popularize ‘Shree Anna,’ the mother of all grains, as a vital asset in the fight against malnutrition. With the changing nutritional needs of our beneficiaries, it is imperative to add high-protein, high-calorie food ingredients to the meals that are offered at the Anganwadi centers to address the protein-calorie deficiency, which is a major cause of malnutrition in the state. Also, women and children suffer from micronutrient deficiency, mainly anemia, which can be addressed through a balanced diet consisting of millet and other nutritious food ingredients. With almost stagnant malnutrition rates and increasing awareness about its causes and consequences, there is also an increase in demand for nutritious foods to address the public health challenge of childhood morbidities and mortality caused by it. Eventually, with the realization of the importance of traditional foods, millets will gain attention for their nutritional value. Millets are nutritionally superior to rice because they contain high amounts of dietary fibre, iron, B-complex vitamins, minerals, essential amino and fatty acids, and vitamin E. These grains are high in complex carbohydrates, with protein content varying from 6 to 11 percent and fat content varying from 1.5 to 5 percent. Millets make for a perfectly healthy meal. With this Poshan Pakhwada, the department is streamlining the Supplementary Nutrition Programme by introducing millets and other cereal-based ready-to-cook food items for improving the nutritional status of women and children in the state. The Poshan Pakhwada celebrated so far has witnessed wide participation and enthusiasm from all districts, frontline functionaries, converging ministries, as well as the public at large. The activities during the Poshan Pakhwada will focus on the following key themes:

Promotion and popularization of Shree Anna or millets for nutritional well-being through the organization of drives to link millet-based foods with supplementary nutrition, home visits, recipe competition camps, etc.

Celebration of Swasth Balak Spardha: Celebrate and recognize the ‘Swasth Balak’ or healthy child as per defined criteria by generating a healthy spirit of competition for good nutrition, good health, and well-being.

Popularize Saksham Anganwadis: Campaigns will be organized to increase awareness and popularize Saksham Anganwadis with upgraded infrastructure and facilities as centres of improved nutrition delivery and early childhood care and education.

The Ministry of Women and Child Development will be the nodal ministry for coordinating activities during the Poshan Pakhwada. In Assam, the Department of Women and Child Development will be the nodal department for Poshan Pakhwada 2023. In Assam, POSHAN Pakhwada 2023 was launched on 22-03-2023. Inaugural functions are to be organized at district level and a bicycle rally to create awareness on the themes of Poshan Pakhwada 2023. A series of mass awareness and discussion camps will be organized throughout the ICDS project catchment area. Optimal utilisation of community-based platforms like community-based events, gram Sabha, and VHSNDs to ignite the discussion around the nutritional benefits of millets, display of IEC materials on millets and cooking recipe competitions will be organised at the community level to create Jan Andholan.

In addition to it, millet-based food fairs will be organized in clusters of 15 AWCs. Local food and nutrition experts will be invited to such a gathering to create awareness among communities about the significance of millet among children, mothers, and lactating mothers. Mass growth monitoring camps will be organized to create awareness of the importance of regular growth monitoring for improving the nutrition status of children. Healthy award certificates will also be distributed at the block and community levels to create awareness in the community.

This year’s Poshan Pakhwada celebrations also aim to popularize the revolutionary concept of Saksham Anganwadi Centres. For years, the state’s AWCs centres have remained the focal point in building the early physical and mental foundation of a child in rural areas through its nutrition service delivery, early childhood care, and education systems. However, with changing times where modernity and technology have touched each and every aspect of our lives for the better, the need for revamping the old Anganwadi centres in the form of better infrastructural facilities emerged. On the Centre’s directive and the state’s initiative, WCD, Assam has ushered in the revolutionary phase of Saksham Anganwadi. The Saksham Anganwadi will be able to provide more services with better infrastructure, including internet and WiFi connectivity, a clean water drinking facility, ECC Education with smart learning aids, audio-visual aids, child-friendly learning equipment, and a rainwater harvesting system. The state, through the medium of this year’s POSHAN Pakhwada 2023 has taken huge steps to acquaint the AWC beneficiaries with the Saksham Anganwadi through campaigns and awareness meetings and encourage their enrolment in these centres in huge numbers. A series of activities and the state’s new initiatives are expected to create a true Jan Andholan throughout the state.