Programme: As part of Mission POSHAN 2.0, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) has proposed that national laboratories test the meals and food packets distributed at anganwadis for nutritional and quality standards.
In addition to Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) labs, the WCD ministry which is the nodal ministry for implementing the programme, plans to rope in the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL). It also plans to use rapid food testing kits approved by the regulatory body to eliminate the need for all samples to be sent to the labs for testing, a government official told The Hindu.
The WCD ministry will also partner with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj so that FSSAI and the National Institute of Nutrition can train Panchayati Raj functionaries and anganwadi workers in monitoring the quality of take-home rations distributed at the anganwadis.
Four centrally-sponsored schemes have been merged to form the new Saksham Anganwadi or Mission POSHAN 2.0. The schemes are anganwadi services, POSHAN Abhiyan, Scheme for Adolescent Girls, and National Creche Scheme. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the programme in her budget speech in February 2021.
Read this article on what anganwadis can do to ensure that children stay nourished in times of COVID-19 and beyond.