Government accords high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is implementing several schemes/programmes of different Ministries/Departments through States/UTs to address various aspects related to nutrition. The Ministry of Women and Child Developmentis implementing several schemes and programmes like Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and Pradhan MantriMatruVandanaYojna under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme as direct targeted interventions to address the problem of malnutrition in the country. Government has also launched POSHAN Abhiyaan, which aims to prevent and reduce prevalence of stunting, underweight and anaemia among children (0-6 years) and reduction in prevalence of low birth weight in the country in a time bound manner.
In order to bridge the gap in the intake of nutrients as recommended under the Recommended Dietary Allowances prescribed by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Average Dietary Intake among the population based on the National Surveys, supplementary nutrition is provided under the Anganwadi Services of the Umbrella ICDS Scheme to children under 6 years of age as per the nutritional norms prescribed in Schedule II of the National Food Security Act, 2013.
The details of financial assistance provided by Government during three years, State-wise including Punjab, Haryana and West Bengal are:
