Bhubaneswar: A Zonal Conference of the states and stakeholders on strategic interventions for addressing malnutrition and the development, empowerment and protection of women and children was organized here on Wednesday.
The Union Ministry of Women & Child Development has launched three new Missions –Mission Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0, Mission Shakti and Mission Vatsalya.
Mission Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0 will ensure nutritional sufficiency of women and children, Mission Shakti will provide comprehensive solutions for women safety, rehabilitation and empowerment and Mission Vatsalya will ensure comprehensive child welfare and development including child protection.
This was the fifth Zonal Meet comprising the States of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.
The Conference was graced by Union Minister of State Ministry of Women & Child Development (MWCD) Dr. Munjpara Mahendrabhai; State’s Minister Tukuni Sahu, West Bengal W&CD Minister Shashi Panja, Secretary MWCD Indevar Pandey; State Secretary, DWCD Bhaskar Jyoti Sarma and Secretaries, Directors and other officials from the representing States.
The other stakeholders included representatives from UNICEF, UNFPA, UNWFP, UNDP, AIIMS, CBOs and CSOs.
The Union Minister introduced Mission Poshan 2.0, Mission Shakti and Mission Vatsalya, which will be implemented from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
He remarked that the objective of the Zonal Conferences is to sensitise State Governments on the 3 Umbrella Missions of the Ministry.
Mission POSHAN 2.0 is an integrated nutrition support programme that will bring three important programmes and schemes under its ambit, viz., Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and Poshan Abhiyan.
The Mission Shakti envisages a unified citizen-centric lifecycle support for women through integrated care, safety, protection, rehabilitation and empowerment to unshackle women as they progress through various stages of their life.
The objective of Mission Vatsalya is to secure a healthy and happy childhood for every child in the country; foster a sensitive, supportive and synchronized ecosystem for development of children; assist States/UTs in delivering the mandate of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015 and achieve the SDG goals.
In order to showcase the interventions, small videos on POSHAN-2.0 from Odisha, a movie on Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao from Chattisgarh, on One Stop Centre Jharkhand and on Pradhan Mantri Matrutwa Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) Bihar were screened to give glimpses of these interventions.
This was followed by consultations with the States and Stakeholders on the way forward and further inputs.
