New Delhi: Launched on March 8, 2018, POSHAN Abhiyaan (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment) is a flagship, multi-ministerial mission to place nutrition at the centre of India’s national development agenda. The mission marked a shift in India’s approach from treating nutrition primarily as a welfare concern, to recognising it as a national priority linked to human capital development, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and long-term growth.
Over the past eight years, POSHAN Abhiyaan has transformed India’s nutrition governance architecture – embedding convergence, digital monitoring and community mobilisation into the framework. Anchored in the Ministry of Women & Child Development, the POSHAN Abhiyaan brings together more than 26 ministries and departments under a unified nutrition framework, recognising that malnutrition cannot be addressed by the health or food sector alone — it requires simultaneous action on sanitation, education, water, women’s empowerment, and income.
Crucially, POSHAN Abhiyaan was designed around a lifecycle and preventive approach — rather than solely addressing acute malnutrition after it occurs. The mission places special emphasis on the first 1,000 days — from conception to two years of age — as this period is critical for physical growth, brain development and long-term health outcomes.
Poshan Vatikas or Nutri-gardens are being set up at Anganwadi Centres, Government schools and Gram Panchayat lands. The initiative promotes diet diversity and the consumption of locally available nutritious food. These gardens provide easy and affordable access to fruits, vegetables, and medicinal plants. The Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have jointly released the Protocol for Management of Malnutrition in Children to manage malnourished children at the community level and reduce associated morbidity and mortality.
