Mission Poshan 2.0 raises hopes but budgetary allocations disappoint (Outlook)

Outlook (India) published an article stating that days after the fifth round of the national family health survey (NFHS-5) results showed reversal of the gains on most of the indicators of nutrition in 22 states and union territories in 2020-21, the government has recently announced the roll-out of Mission Poshan 2.0. The Finance Minister said, “supplementary nutrition program, one of the key components of the ICDS, will be merged with the Poshan Abhiyan strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach, and outcome. The government will adopt an “intensified strategy” to improve nutritional outcomes across 112 aspirational districts. Senior research fellow Purnima Menon says programmatic aspects of the Mission Poshan 2.0 can be analyzed for its efficacy when it comes in the public domain. “What appears from the budget is that it is just bundling of the various schemes. The merger of the supplementary nutrition program with the Poshan Abhiyan is business as usual. There is no increase in the allocations.