Dr Rajesh Kumar, Chair of the Outlook Poshan Awards Jury talks about the journey of Poshan Abhiyan.
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00:00 The Poshan Abhiyan which has brought us all here together is a historical initiative but
00:09 it did not happen in a day.
00:11 There was vision, there was commitment and there was action.
00:15 And who would know this better than the person who anchored it as Joint Secretary, Ministry
00:20 of Women and Child Development, Government of India during that period.
00:24 To share with us how Poshan Abhiyan and India is showing a new way to the world, could I
00:30 request the former Mission Director, Poshan Abhiyan and Chair of the Outlook Poshan Awards
00:36 Jury, Dr. Rajesh Kumar IAS to come up and share his experience with us.
00:46 Sir.
00:47 Good afternoon.
00:49 I am looking at the clock.
00:54 Before I begin, I think when I was a young kid, 1965 war, on the radio I used to listen
01:00 from the Prime Minister.
01:02 Other naughty kids, I used to always go and see here and there.
01:05 Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan.
01:06 The country did not have food grain to feed people, actually.
01:12 When I went to school, I used to go shopping also.
01:16 At the age of six years I used to go and buy five kg of wheat.
01:20 The Green Revolution came and we have Dr. Swaminathan's daughter here.
01:26 That time we were discussing in the country to have two times a square meal.
01:31 Then the White Revolution came.
01:33 With that kind of background and not having sufficient food grain, the country has evolved
01:39 and developed.
01:40 Way back in '75, the country thought of ICDS.
01:44 It was not that the country was not conscious of malnutrition.
01:47 So whomever was running the country should be given the credit of getting the Green Revolution,
01:52 White Revolution, ICDS.
01:54 But what had happened with the economic growth and other things coming to us, and India growing
02:01 into a bigger and bigger power, in 2004 two things happened.
02:06 The Supreme Court had passed a historic judgment for expanding Anganwadi services, ICDS, to
02:13 14 lakh Anganwadis.
02:16 That was a major, major intervention.
02:19 And that time our Prime Minister, the late Prime Minister Vajpayee also had approved
02:23 National Nutrition Mission.
02:24 This was the first birth of National Nutrition Mission.
02:28 The government changed.
02:31 Slumber and sleep.
02:34 2008, the National Nutrition Mission of 2004 was resigned.
02:42 My friends have told me to be a little correct politically.
02:48 The government woke up 2010.
02:51 Prime Minister's National Nutrition Council formed.
02:54 One meeting held.
02:56 Long sleep.
03:01 And we chugged along, NFHS 1, 2, 3.
03:07 Many states started doing good initiatives on their own.
03:10 They were state nutrition missions.
03:14 July 14, 2014 is a very, very relevant month in the history of the country.
03:21 The Finance Minister that time made an announcement in the Parliament, the country shall have
03:27 a National Nutrition Mission.
03:29 Why I am saying 2004, NNM Fund, National Nutrition Council 2010, 2014 statement made.
03:38 The task was assigned to the Ministry of Women and Child.
03:42 I landed in the Ministry 27th, February 15, not to my liking.
03:48 15 days time was spent and we were mandated to prepare a concept of how that nutrition
03:57 mission should be structured.
04:01 What we found that in such a huge country with such a huge population, what is missing
04:07 is leveraging technology as a service delivery tool, not as a monitoring tool.
04:13 And how to ensure the services of health, sanitation, nutrition actually reach the internet
04:17 beneficiaries as well as behavioral change and mass movement.
04:20 Everything is taken to a logical conclusion.
04:23 So in 15 days time a document was stitched.
04:26 We did get approval on 4/11/15 by expenditure finance committee.
04:31 They approved 9,046 crore for National Nutrition Mission.
04:36 We were luckily having, I should call it luckily or unluckily, I don't know.
04:42 In 2012, in 8 states of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, UP,
04:50 Bihar, Jharkhand, there was a project known as Integrated Systems Improvement Scheme,
04:56 ISSNIP, World Bank funded, 2012 December launched.
05:03 March 15, the disbursal out of 108 million dollars, less than 4 million dollars.
05:09 So there was money lying idle, the project was going to be closed.
05:13 When good things happen, these things happen in sequences.
05:18 We had a review meeting in April 15.
05:21 I am not a historian but I am trying to just remember the dates.
05:23 I have left the ministry two and a half months ago.
05:25 So whatever comes to my mind, I am telling you.
05:28 Around 14th, 15th of April 15, we had a meeting.
05:31 That time I think the Gates Foundation co-founder Melinda Gates also came and met the minister.
05:37 They saw some disruptive traits in me and they called me to Seattle in first week of
05:41 May 15.
05:42 And when we were having a meeting with the co-founders, Bihar one side, UP one side,
05:50 I was sitting in a corner, last sentence to the last speaker like today.
05:54 There was a very powerful panel after me.
05:57 Do you want to say something?
06:00 I said I was a naughty kid.
06:03 So I looked at Mr. Bill Gates, I said Mr. Gates you are doing a pilot in four blocks
06:05 of Saharsa, can you scale up to the whole country, I will get a World Bank project in
06:09 three months time.
06:10 He gave a very wry smile to me, very ambitious, some silly Indian fellow.
06:16 It actually happened.
06:18 Sean is a witness.
06:19 I said 30th September, it was 29th September.
06:21 Normally it doesn't happen.
06:23 By that time we thought of building the IT tool, the prototype of Saharsa was to be customized
06:29 into ICDS common application software.
06:31 The teams were there.
06:33 We talked to the Gates Foundation.
06:35 Even though the MOC was not signed between the government and Gates Foundation, we started
06:38 working on that software.
06:40 And we also restructured the entire SNIP into behavioral change, communication and also
06:46 training the people for the IT, thinking 100,000 mobiles can be done in the phase one, till
06:51 the portion of Bihar nutrition mission is approved.
06:53 We kept on working.
06:54 We never stopped.
06:55 That was the beauty of the ministry and all other ministries working with us, including
06:59 NITI Aayog.
07:00 I think my friend Alok is here.
07:02 And we all worked.
07:05 That time the momentum, because the direction of the government was that nutrition has to
07:08 be taken care of.
07:10 Health ministry came with intensified mission in the Danu.
07:14 We also had bumped into each other in Tanzania in September 15th, so we thought that fortification,
07:19 which is very minuscule in the country, that still should be taken up.
07:22 I must place on record the discussion with Sean in Tanzania and help you and Dr. Rajan
07:27 Shankar and Basanta Akar in drafting the comprehensive food fortification regulation, which was signed
07:32 by three secretaries on 23rd May of 2016 and sent to FSAI, which brought out the first
07:39 draft food fortification regulation on 16th October 16th.
07:43 These dates I am telling you correctly.
07:46 I just sat down here and scribbled the years.
07:49 That has made some changes.
07:51 Then we wanted to mandate into ICDS and midday meal scheme.
07:54 10th July 17th ICDS mandated and 8th August 17th HRD ministry mandated MDM.
08:02 So using fortified food articles for our MDM beneficiary and ICDS beneficiary also started
08:07 concurrently.
08:08 Health ministry also followed advocacy from our side, went for deworming twice in a year,
08:13 which is a very, very massive thing.
08:15 And seeing that the energy and the sources and intent of the government, we put very
08:20 ambitious target of reducing stunting and wasting by 2%, low birth weight by 2%, anemia
08:26 by 3%.
08:27 These are very ambitious target, especially in the context that stunting in NHS 3 and
08:32 4, the annual decline is 0.9% per annum.
08:35 But I am very hopeful we will do more than that because there is very, very serious intent
08:39 from the government side.
08:42 What had happened that while fortification was happening, immunization was happening,
08:48 the pilots in the 8 states were already running.
08:52 We also finalized our MOC with BMGF in May 16.
08:57 We also got the ICDS common application software prepared as per Indian needs and launched
09:04 in 16.
09:06 Then the Honorable Prime Minister also thought of maternal nutrition.
09:11 We used to have a scheme IGMSY for maternal nutrition, 53 districts.
09:15 It was launched pan India, 31st December 16 and that is where we also introduced Matrona
09:22 cash software which is one of the best DBT software in the country.
09:26 The ministry takes pride because the DBT mission cabinet secretary asked us to wait the SOP
09:32 for all other ministry DBT program.
09:34 It's one of the best DBT run scheme.
09:37 It was for maternal nutrition.
09:39 Also the government increased the cost of nutrition per day which was pending for long.
09:44 So resources are given for multiple size.
09:46 If you see that people are saying WCD budget is increased by 17%.
09:51 Then the Prime Minister also held a direct sambhag with the field functionaries on 11th
09:56 September last year, increased their honorarium also.
09:59 So he increased the honorarium, he increased the nutrition per day cost with annual indistriction,
10:06 expanded the maternity benefit across the country and also took the adolescent girls
10:10 11 to 14 across the country, not 205 districts.
10:14 So all these things are happening.
10:16 In the meanwhile also the country decided to scale up pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccine,
10:20 very key intervention which are happening and Anemia Mukt Bharat which also was launched
10:25 by health ministry.
10:26 So all these components coming together, there is so much happening in nutrition and health
10:30 sector that the country is optimistic to receive the results which we are angling for.
10:38 How the Poshan Abhiyan got ultimately approved?
10:40 It was I think 24th November 17, the Honorable Prime Minister had a presentation on what
10:46 we want to do.
10:49 Next day the cabinet note was sent to the Prime Minister's office and cabinet secretary,
10:52 30th November 17 got approved.
10:54 Since we had so much material of the pilots, all the incremental learning, community-based
10:59 event, cash, all the modules were given to all the states, got translated and in this
11:04 the World Bank, the UNICEF, the CARE, the partners, everybody helped us and all of them
11:09 are here.
11:10 Without the help of partners and state, the ministry could not have achieved that much.
11:16 The support we got from Niti Aayog, the Vice-Chairman himself was enormous.
11:21 He mandated that auxiliary council should instead of four times in a year should meet
11:25 eight times in a year.
11:26 The Honorable Prime Minister has also given half-yearly report by Niti Aayog and now the
11:30 present minister, what I have been told by my ex-employee, I don't keep track of previous
11:33 ministries is driving from top.
11:35 The best thing which is happening in the country is that the Vice-Chairman and the Minister
11:39 are now driving Poshan Abhiyan from their level, from the top and that will give very,
11:45 very good results.
11:46 We successfully had a Poshan Maa last year, Poshan Pakwala in March.
11:51 Millions of activities, millions, crores of people participating.
11:55 Ministry will surely scale it up.
11:56 That is where the Jan Andolan will come.
11:59 Somebody mentioned in the prelim session Jan Andolan.
12:01 I want to place on record, when the presentation was made to the Honorable Prime Minister 24th
12:06 June, 2015, he used the word Jan Andolan and he gave about ten inputs which were put into
12:12 the part of Cabinet to know what exactly is to be done to ensure behavioural change, how
12:17 do we take to every doorstep this Poshan Abhiyan and health thing.
12:21 And one more thing I want to place on record is 2014 itself, the Swachh Bharat Mission,
12:27 because 25% problem emanate out of water and sanitation, is also working in conjunction
12:32 with the Health and Nutrition and the beauty of Poshan Abhiyan is that it ensures convergence
12:41 of about 14-15 departments, not only national level, state level, district block.
12:46 In fact the convergence plans are made from the bottom and goes up.
12:51 A couple of minutes more I will take.
12:52 I think I am rushing through because I know there is no time.
12:56 March of this year, the country also organised the first Agri-Nutrition Conclave, because
13:03 unless you dovetail agriculture and nutrition, I think we will not get the right result.
13:10 That has to be taken forward and I think with these words I should close it, but I want
13:17 to say something about ICDS-CAS because the media house is also here and people from different
13:22 sectors are there.
13:24 The ICDS Common Application Software is a governance tool.
13:28 People are monitoring.
13:30 It actually sees the service delivery, whether the iron folic acid has gone or not, whether
13:34 the nutrition has been distributed or not, the food is given on a daily basis or not.
13:38 It monitors the growth on a monthly basis.
13:41 The weight is taken every month.
13:43 The height and length is taken every month.
13:46 Suppose a child doesn't grow by a gram, next month on month, an alert goes to the
13:52 worker and the family and that is where a little component of AI is already built into
13:58 the system.
13:59 The team is working on using the big data and artificial intelligence so that the pockets
14:04 of deprivation of service delivery and clusters of problem area can be identified and the
14:08 six-tier dashboard actually enables a person to know where do we have to intervene.
14:14 Wherever there are green pockets, there is good result.
14:16 One doesn't have to worry.
14:17 What the country needs is to identify where is the problem and then tackle the problem.
14:23 This tool is the largest mHealth platform on earth.
14:27 When our partners were working, the team were told if we can do 10,000 in India, it's
14:31 a great work.
14:32 In today's date, I think the country has 3,70,000 workers are working.
14:38 Yesterday, one boy forwarded me a picture of a lady from Ribery.
14:43 1975, she joined ICDS.
14:46 After 44 years, she was using the smartphone instead of registers.
14:54 That was very, very encouraging.
14:57 We organized with the World Bank and Louthouse India event, got countries from Latin America,
15:01 Africa and South Asia.
15:03 Out of 12 countries, 8 or 9 wanted that such kind of system should be built into their
15:10 system.
15:11 So India will lead from front and all partners and every representative I want to acknowledge.
15:17 But I want to thank Basanta and Ruben personally for bringing up this initiative.
15:22 That is first by any media house.
15:24 I wish all other media house do the same thing.
15:27 I wish good luck to all of you in this venture because I'm out of this now.
15:30 I'm into real estate daily living authority.
15:33 I have to do on Pradhan Mati Awas.
15:34 You know, a lot of work for some of the decisions.
15:36 So I'm off on nutrition.
15:39 I wish all the best to everyone.
15:40 Thank you.
15:41 [Music]
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