Can India’s Nutrition Mission deliver?
Five years since the Poshan Abhiyaan began, India's villages remain at the heart of its success, and also failure. It is time we ask whether the policy tools are aligning with rural realities.
When the Indian government launched Poshan Abhiyaan in 2018, it hoped to do more than fight malnutrition. It wanted to shift how the country thought about food, childhood, and care. Since its launch in March 2018, the target was sharp: reduce stunting, wasting, underweight prevalence, and anemia by 2022.
But in the five years since, India’s rural kitchens have become the real testing ground for the mission. And while numbers drive policy, in rural India, nutrition often comes down to questions like: Is there enough rice for dinner? Did the milk arrive? Will the Anganwadi centre open on time today?
What is Poshan Abhiyaan?
At its core, Poshan Abhiyaan (short for Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition) is a multi-ministerial effort that aims to improve nutritional outcomes for children under six, pregnant women, and lactating mothers. It integrates the work of the health, education, sanitation, and women and child development ministries, all through one common platform.
Also read : Curbing malnutrition, one poshan vatika at a time
But most of the work plays out through Anganwadi centres — over 14,00,117 Anganwadi Centers (AWCs) operating across 36 States/Union Territories and 781 districts across India — where local women are trained to monitor child growth, serve hot meals, distribute take-home rations and counsel new mothers.
On paper, the mission is one of the world’s most expansive nutrition drives. But on the ground, it often depends on whether their phone works, there’s gas to cook or the Poshan Tracker is glitch-free—each decides how the day under Poshan Abhiyaan unfolds.
What’s working and what’s worrying?
There have been some notable gains since 2018. According to the National Family Health Survey (2019-21) stunting (low height-for-age) has dropped from 38.4 percent to 35.5 percent. The proportion of underweight children has reduced from 35.8 percent to 32.1 percent.
But over the same period, anaemia among women aged 15–49 increased to 57 percent. Wasting (low weight-for-height) remained high at 19.3 percent.
The data hints at a deeper problem: while some nutrition indicators are improving marginally, others — especially those tied to micronutrient deficiencies — remain stubborn or have worsened.
This isn’t surprising to anyone familiar with rural food systems. In many homes, diets are dominated by cereals, with little access to iron-rich greens, fruits, or proteins like eggs and pulses—especially during lean agricultural months, as highlighted by a 2017 study in Food Security, which found that rural Indian diets are predominantly cereal-based and lack sufficient diversity and micronutrients.
Rural challenges need rural solutions
Poshan Abhiyaan assumes that behaviour change, such as taking iron tablets or introducing complementary feeding at six months, can be achieved through counselling alone. But in rural areas, the barriers are not just cultural; they’re logistical and economic.
In parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, for instance, eggs are resisted on cultural grounds. In Jharkhand and Odisha, where eggs are culturally accepted and in demand, they often don’t reach the centres due to vendor shortages or procurement delays.
A 2022 study by Azim Premji University found that when communities were involved in deciding Anganwadi menus — using locally available millets, pulses, and greens — both attendance and meal consumption improved significantly.
This speaks to a key critique: that national schemes often design meals without factoring in regional preferences or seasonal availability. A khichdi that works in Gujarat might flop in Nagaland. A fortified mix from a central warehouse may sit untouched if it tastes unfamiliar.
Also read: Community kitchens help tribal children overcome malnutrition
Anganwadi workers: essential but overburdened
No conversation on Poshan Abhiyaan is complete without mentioning the Anganwadi worker, often referred to as “AWW” in policy documents or known as didi in the villages.
Each worker is responsible for recording child growth data, providing nutrition counselling, cooking meals, distributing rations, and uploading data to the Poshan Tracker app.
But many didis in the hinterland still use their own phones and internet packs, with little training in troubleshooting app errors. This impacts real-time reporting, especially in tribal and hilly districts. Gaps also exist in honorarium payments, workload expectations, and infrastructure — many Anganwadis still lack toilets, storage, or clean water.
What rural families really need
When nutrition is discussed in Delhi or state capitals, the focus is often on grams of protein and growth charts. But in rural homes, priorities are often more immediate. During the sowing season, when mothers are in the fields, toddlers receive a second meal to ensure they’re nourished.
Older siblings now attend school less due to household chores and rely on mid-day meals. Meanwhile, simple recipes are used to stretch limited ingredients while still meeting essential nutritional goals.
Village interviews conducted by independent journalists have repeatedly highlighted that mothers tend to value predictability and taste more than packaged supplements. A consistent boiled egg or roti-sabzi is often preferred to an unfamiliar fortified powder.
So, what next?
The government has rebranded nutrition efforts into Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, aiming for better digital tools, smart Anganwadi centres, and expanded community involvement. But unless those tools align with rural realities — low internet, irregular electricity, and high workloads — progress will remain slow.
The government rebranded nutrition efforts into Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 in 2021, aiming for better digital tools, smart Anganwadi centres, and expanded community involvement. However, unless these tools align with rural realities, such as low internet access, irregular electricity, and high workloads, progress is likely to remain slow.
And most of all, policy needs to listen more carefully to the rhythms of rural life – to crop cycles, food taboos, seasonal migration, and the subtle ways care is provided in joint families and neighbourhood courtyards.
Because at its heart, Poshan Abhiyaan isn’t just about tackling malnutrition — it’s about trusting the village to know what its children need to thrive.
Also read: Poshan sakhis transform reproductive health in Odisha
The lead image on top shows a poster promoting holistic nutrition in rural communities. (Photo courtesy of www.poshanabhiyaan.gov.in)
