How tech-driven monitoring is revolutionising India's malnutrition fight

In any assessment of a nation's socio-economic progress, the health and well-being of its women and children is paramount. Undernutrition is not merely a health concern, it is fundamentally an economic and human capital issue with profound implications for a country's development and future. medium nocaption99452856Recognising this, the Indian government is implementing the Saksham Anganwadi and Mission Poshan 2.0. This integrates three existing schemes - Anganwadi Services, Poshan Abhiyaan, and the Scheme for Adolescent Girls. It shifts the focus from energy and micronutrient sufficiency to prioritising improved health, wellness and sanitation, all underpinned by well-defined strategies. At its heart is a people-centric approach of engagement and behaviour change through jan andolan.Historically, the lack of real-time malnutrition data has been a major problem.Addressing this, the women & child development ministry developed and deployed the 'Poshan Tracker' ICT Application.This smartphone App, designed for Anganwadi workers, was launched on March 2021, accompanied by provision of smartphones to all Anganwadi centres. Over 13.9 lakh Anganwadi centres have since registered, benefiting over 10.3 crore individuals, including pregnant women, lactating mothers, children under 6 years, and adolescent girls. Close to 95% of registered beneficiaries are Aadhar-authenticated to ensure last mile delivery.The Poshan Tracker identifies and monitors child malnutrition symptoms like stunting and wasting. Under Mission Poshan 2.0, growth monitoring devices are provided at AWCs for monthly child assessments.For the first time in India, and perhaps in the world, the Poshan Tracker application provides real-time nutritional status of individual children at the level of Anganwadi centres. The application is emerging as a game-changer in ensuring nutrition and good health for the most vulnerable.Since April 2023, data on nearly 7 crore children is being uploaded monthly. This provides actionable insights to states and UTs for timely intervention. Previously, the most reliable data source has been the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), which is limited in scope and scale compared to Poshan Tracker, and only available at a frequency of 4-5 years.Of the total registered children, about 7.2 crore (91%) were measured at AWCs in August 2023. The results show substantially lower rates of wasting compared with NFHS-5 findings. For August 2023, only 2.1% children aged 0-5 years were found to have severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and 4.8% moderate acute malnutrition (MAM), against 19.3% wasting as per NFHS-5 (2019-21) among children 0-5 years.The Poshan Tracker facilitates targeted interventions and data-driven decision-making and empowers frontline workers and policymakers to access critical information effortlessly, enabling well-informed actions and efficient allocation of resources. Heat maps for each state provide robust analysis of malnutrition hotspots. It also enables digitisation and automation of physical registers previously maintained by Anganwadi workers freeing them to focus on nutrition delivery and early childhood care and education.The application has facilitated transparency in governance of Anganwadi services schemes. A critical reflection of this is the Poshan Tracker dashboard, which provides information on Anganwadi infrastructure and key activities like provisioning of take-home ration and hot cooked meals to beneficiaries, growth measurement of children, and complete beneficiary management.The Tracker allows beneficiary migration between Anganwadi centres, without any data loss. It is accessible in 22 regional languages, apart from English and Hindi, making it truly universal. The Poshan Helpline (14408), operationalised since November 2022, allows beneficiaries to raise concerns and facilitates monitoring of gaps in services, if any. To ensure last-mile tracking, SMS alerts to beneficiaries have been introduced on delivery of take-home ration (under the Supplementary Nutrition Program of Anganwadi Services).Poshan Tracker promotes collaboration and synergy among diverse stakeholders, facilitates seamless coordination among authorities at various levels and fosters a unified approach. During Poshan Maah and Poshan Pakhwada, activities of other ministries/ departments are recorded on the Jan Andolan Dashboard of Poshan tracker, facilitating horizontal convergence. It has been integrated with RCH and UWIN portals of the health & family welfare ministry. Leveraging the power of data and analytics, the government can fine-tune strategies and interventions to ensure maximum impact and sustainable outcomes.In its pursuit of Suposhit Bharat, the Indian government is harnessing the full potential of technology and innovation for saturation level coverage. The Poshan Tracker exemplifies India's commitment to leveraging ICT applications for the greater public good, enabling a healthier and brighter future for generations to come.