Ramban :Mission Director POSHAN, Sajad Hussain Ganai on Monday conducted a comprehensive review of the implementation of nutrition and early childhood care initiatives in District Ramban.
District Programme Officer Jahangir Hashmi and other officials attended the meeting. CDPO Ramsoo Rhythm Jandyal presented a detailed PowerPoint presentation highlighting the progress and key initiatives undertaken in the district.
The Mission Director appreciated the innovative approach adopted by the district to strengthen last-mile delivery of services. He congratulated the District Programme Officer (ICDS) for the intervention carried out in Aspirational Block Khari. The initiative resulted in nearly a 450 percent increase in the registration of pregnant women under ICDS through an intensive door-to-door survey, an effort that was subsequently recognised by NITI Aayog, making Ramban the only district in Jammu and Kashmir to receive recognition in the nutrition category.
The Mission Director also congratulated the DPO for earning a place on the “Wall of Fame” of the Fifth National Conference of Chief Secretaries for his concept note on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE).
The Mission Director also appreciated the innovative selection of recipes for Anganwadi Centres, wherein refined sugar was removed and replaced with healthier ingredients such as dates and brown sugar. Whole wheat (atta) biscuits and local nutritious dishes like Saswagra were introduced to improve the nutritional value of supplementary nutrition provided to beneficiaries.
He further lauded the infrastructure upgradation of tribal Anganwadi Centres, including the introduction of modern play equipment such as trampolines to create a more engaging environment for children.
The MD directed the department to host Village Health, Sanitation and Nutrition Days (VHSNDs), on the second Thursday of every month. He further emphasised saturation of Aadhaar for seamless APAAR ID generation. He also stressed the need to devise strategies to cater to tribal populations migrating to higher reaches during summers so that delivery of services remains uninterrupted. The Mission Director also encouraged the district team to create a YouTube channel to document POSHAN activities and share field-level initiatives and best practices.
The meeting was also attended by CDPO Banihal Sidharth Dubey and CDPO Gool Bashir Ahmed, besides supervisors and other officials of the ICDS Department.
