The ‘Poshandoot’ initiative, launched on Independence Day, has begun showing a visible impact across the Nashik district. The program, aimed at adopting and rehabilitating severely acutely malnourished (SAM) children to bring them into the ‘normal’ nutrition category, is now yielding encouraging results, indicating Nashik’s steady progress toward becoming a malnutrition-free district.
Conceptualised by Nashik ZP CEO Omkar Pawar, IAS, the innovative Poshandoot campaign was launched on August 15 to reduce malnutrition in the district. Under the scheme, Class I and Class II officers at the district and taluka levels voluntarily “adopt” SAM children to monitor and improve their nutrition, health, and hygiene, to restore them to normal health. Pawar recently held a review meeting with health officials and Women and Child Development officers (THO and CDPO) to assess progress.
Active officer participation drives success
Each officer under this program actively follows up with the adopted child, addressing issues of nutrition, hygiene, and healthcare on a monthly basis. According to standardised procedures, Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs) serve as taluka-level nodal officers for implementation and monitoring.
During the review, Pawar revealed that out of 345 SAM children in Nashik district, 97 have moved to the ‘normal’ category, while 136 have improved to the moderately malnourished (MAM) stage. He lauded the efforts of all participating officers for this significant achievement. Special focus and monitoring have been directed toward the remaining 112 SAM children.
District-level officers and supervisors were present during the review meeting.
