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The 9th Rashtriya Poshan Maah will be launched on 9 September 2026 at the Rudraksh International Cooperation and Convention Centre, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh.
Its central theme is 'Hamari Anganwadi, Hamari Jimmedari', built on five priorities: dietary diversity and protein, fresh hot cooked meals, community ownership through Anganwadi Management Committees, nutrition-linked early childhood development, and ten years of the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana.
Poshan Maah is the September campaign of Mission Poshan 2.0, the unified nutrition mission of the Ministry of Women and Child Development that merged POSHAN Abhiyaan, Anganwadi Services (ICDS) and the Scheme for Adolescent Girls.
As on 31 July 2026, the network covered 13.99 lakh Anganwadi Centres, 13.30 lakh Anganwadi workers and about 8.94 crore beneficiaries, tracked on the Poshan Tracker.
The 8th edition, launched on 17 September 2025 from Dhar, Madhya Pradesh, recorded 14.33 crore activities in convergence with more than 20 Ministries.
Launched on 8 March 2018 from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, to cut stunting, undernutrition and low birth weight by 2% a year each and anaemia by 3% a year.
Key: Works through technology-driven monitoring, multi-ministerial convergence and Jan Andolan mass mobilisation rather than by adding a new benefit.
Announced in the Union Budget 2021-22 as India's unified nutrition mission under the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
Key: Consolidates POSHAN Abhiyaan, Anganwadi Services (ICDS), the Scheme for Adolescent Girls, the National Creche Scheme and the Supplementary Nutrition Programme into one framework; it is one of the three verticals of the Ministry alongside Mission Shakti and Mission Vatsalya.
Launched on 2 October 1975, it delivers early childhood care to children aged 0–6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers.
Key: Six services — supplementary nutrition, pre-school non-formal education, health check-ups, immunisation, referral services and nutrition and health education — delivered at the Anganwadi Centre.
Maternity benefit programme implemented pan-India from 1 January 2017; it provides income support and promotes health-seeking behaviour during pregnancy.
Key: ₹5,000 in two instalments for the first living child; under PMMVY 2.0 (from the revised Mission Shakti guidelines of April 2022) a further ₹6,000 in one instalment for a second child if that child is a girl. Paid by Direct Benefit Transfer. Poshan Maah 2026 carries a 100% saturation enrolment drive.
Launched in 2018 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to cut anaemia among children, adolescents and women through a life-cycle approach.
Key: Built on a 6x6x6 strategy — six beneficiary groups, six interventions and six institutional mechanisms. Interventions include prophylactic iron-folic acid supplementation, periodic deworming, behaviour change communication, digital haemoglobinometer testing with point-of-care treatment, mandatory IFA-fortified foods in public programmes, and treatment of non-nutritional causes in endemic pockets.
Launched on 1 March 2021 as the digital governance backbone for Anganwadi Services.
Key: Near real-time monitoring of Anganwadi Centre opening, child attendance, ECCE activities and growth monitoring for pregnant women, lactating mothers, children up to six years and adolescent girls.
The window from conception to a child's second birthday, when nutrition and responsive caregiving shape brain, motor and socio-emotional development. Undernutrition here leaves effects that later feeding cannot fully reverse, which is why maternal nutrition and early stimulation are targeted together.
Simple Analogy: Foundations of a building: added strength later cannot correct what was laid crooked.
Nodal ministry for Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, Poshan Maah, Poshan Pakhwada and PMMVY; its three scheme verticals are Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, Mission Shakti and Mission Vatsalya.
Community oversight body at each Anganwadi Centre, created by Ministry guidelines of 23 June 2026, to monitor menu adherence, meal quality and service regularity, supported by the display of SNP Menu Boards.
Partner for mission-mode nationwide quality testing of Hot Cooked Meals served under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme.
POSHAN Abhiyaan's defining feature is treating nutrition as a people's movement; Poshan Maah and Poshan Pakhwada are its two annual mobilisation campaigns.
Children identified with developmental delays at Anganwadi Centres are referred to RBSK teams.
Hot Cooked Meals must use millets at least once a week, and Poshan Vatika kitchen gardens supply local produce for dietary diversity.
Launched alongside the 8th Poshan Maah in 2025 and implemented jointly by the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
GS Paper 2 > Social Justice > Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
General Awareness > Government Schemes
General Awareness > Current Affairs
"National Girl Child Day" is celebrated in India on:
Answer: 24 January
Consider the following statements in the context of interventions being undertaken under Anaemia Mukt Bharat Strategy: 1. It provides prophylactic calcium supplementation for pre-school children, adolescents and pregnant women. 2. It runs a campaign for delayed cord clamping at the time of child-birth. 3. It provides for periodic deworming to children and adolescents. 4. It addresses non-nutritional causes of anaemia in endemic pockets with special focus on malaria, hemoglobinopathies and fluorosis. How many of the statements given above are correct?
Answer: Only three
Which of the following are the objectives of 'National Nutrition Mission'? 1. To create awareness relating to malnutrition among pregnant women and lactating mothers. 2. To reduce the incidence of anaemia among young children, adolescent girls and women. 3. To promote the consumption of millets, coarse cereals and unpolished rice. 4. To promote the consumption of poultry eggs. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer: 1 and 2 only
Prime Minister's Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment — the acronym behind POSHAN Abhiyaan, launched 8 March 2018.
Pre-mixed fortified supplementary food given to beneficiaries for consumption at home under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme; raw ration is not permitted.
Anaemia Mukt Bharat's design — six beneficiary groups, six interventions and six institutional mechanisms.
Treating nutrition improvement as a people's movement driven by community ownership rather than as a government-administered programme.