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The Union Minister was addressing a rally at the Mahatma Mandir after declaring the seventh National Nutrition Month 'Poshan Maah', a flagship event celebrated by the Center in September every year. (File image)
Women and Child Development Minister Ampurna Devi said the central government has taken many concrete measures to ensure women's safety
Women and Child Development Minister Ampurna Devi on Saturday said empowering women and providing them with a safe environment is the central government's top priority.
Devi said the central government has taken several concrete measures to ensure the safety of women. However, it is the responsibility of the state governments to utilize and implement these schemes.
The Union Minister was addressing a rally at the Mahatma Mandir after declaring the seventh National Nutrition Month 'Poshan Maah', a flagship event celebrated by the Center in September every year.
The meeting was also attended by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and state Women and Child Welfare Minister Bhanuben Barbariya.
“Empowering women and providing them with a safe environment is a top priority for the government of India. The government has taken many concrete steps to ensure the safety of women. But it is also the state government's responsibility to capitalize on this and implement these schemes,” she said.
She said 'Poshan Maah' reflects Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to holistic health and nutrition of children, mothers and sisters.
“The main aspects of this 'Poshan Maah' are anemia awareness, growth monitoring, nutrition and education, proper dietary supplements, technology-based transparency and environmental protection. We are determined to take this to the grassroots through Angavadis sport,” the minister said.
This campaign aims to comprehensively improve the nutritional status of pregnant women, expectant mothers, teenage girls and children under six years of age.
As part of this campaign, community events worth Rs 370 crore have been organized since the launch of 'Poshan Maah'.
The Union Minister said the main objective of the campaign is to develop India's human capital and adopt a life cycle approach to nutrition.
She said the mission was based on four pillars – good governance, integration, capacity building and collective engagement.
Keeping in view the all-round development of children, the Center has launched the 'Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi' (Nutrition and Education) program in Angavadis.
“Anganwadi workers are receiving special training to ensure the smooth implementation of the program. Over the next two years, Anganwadi workers will be trained to become food providers and teachers for our young children,” she said.
Anganwadi workers spread awareness about nutrition widely and established 6,42,000 nutritious gardens in Anganwadi to ensure fresh vegetables and fruits to the beneficiaries, she added.
“Under Saksham Anganwadi and Mission Poshan 2.0, more than 1.36 lakh people have been approved for upgrade to Saksham anganwadi centres,” Devi said.
She said under the Supplementary Nutrition Program, the ministry included different types of millets in recipes to improve nutritional quality.
The minister further said that Poshan Tracker represents a paradigm shift to make Mission Poshan 2.0 more effective and enable better assessment of it.
Devi said the Prime Minister understands the importance of women's empowerment in achieving India's determination to develop and therefore pays special attention to women-led development.
She said this was reflected in the budgetary allocation of over Rs 300 crore for projects related to women and adolescent girls.
The minister said that Gujarat's “double-engine” government is very sensitive to women's safety and the 181 women's helpline “is a model for other states and should be implemented elsewhere as well”.
(This report has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from United News Agency-PTI)
