Chandigarh, May 4: The Haryana government on Sunday constituted a state task force to monitor and coordinate programmes aimed at eliminating malnutrition and anaemia among women and children. A decision in this regard was taken at the sixth meeting of the State Convergence Committee under Haryana’s POSHAN Abhiyaan, chaired by Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi.
The task force, comprising representatives from the Health, AYUSH, Education, and Women and Child Development Departments, will be headed by the Additional Chief Secretary (Women and Child Development) and will meet fortnightly to ensure effective implementation and monitoring of the programme.
After the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary (Women and Child Development and Health and Family Welfare) Sudhir Rajpal said the Poshan Abhiyaan is being implemented with a focus on ground-level monitoring. This includes the establishment of Poshan Panchayats at the village level. To strengthen village-level interventions, sub-committees comprising 10-15 women are being formed in gram panchayats.
These committees will meet monthly to monitor Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), conduct social audits of food quality, perform spot checks at anganwadi centres and participate in village health programmes. Under the National Suposhit Panchayat Abhiyan, the gram panchayats will be encouraged to coordinate efforts to reduce malnutrition.
To improve dietary diversity, a plan has been developed to create Poshan Vatikas (nutrition gardens) at Anganwadi centres, schools, panchayat lands and at community spaces. The Horticulture and AYUSH Departments will provide plants, seeds, including medicinal plants, and technical assistance. The Horticulture Department will also plant fruit-bearing trees along roadsides.
Under the Jal Shakti Abhiyaan, the Public Health Engineering Department is working to provide universal water connections to all anganwadi centres. Rajpal urged the panchayats to actively support maintenance and minor repairs of these centres. Officials from the Panchayati Raj Department assured that each panchayat would allocate up to Rs 25,000 per anganwadi centre for such repairs.
To improve transparency and efficiency in ration distribution, the Poshan Tracker App has been integrated with a facial recognition system, ensuring that benefits are received only by genuine beneficiaries. The Mukhyamantri Dudh Uphaar Yojana has also been strengthened through the launch of an online Management Information System (MIS) to monitor the supply and demand of fortified milk for children and pregnant or lactating mothers.
Additionally, the Food and Supplies Department has been directed to explore the possibility of making it mandatory to fortify rice, wheat, and mustard oil sold in the state, as a further step to combat nutritional deficiencies.
A Comprehensive Convergence Action Plan for 2025-26 has been submitted to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, outlining cross-departmental strategies to achieve targeted nutrition goals. Rajpal added that efforts under the Poshan Abhiyaan have already yielded significant results. The proportion of underweight children has reduced from 29.4 to 21.5 per cent, while stunting has declined from 34 to 27.5 per cent.