Hyderabad, 19th July 2019: A high-level convergence meeting was organized by Dr. Gyanmudra, Professor& Head, CGGPA, and CRU team, National Institute of Rural Development Panchayat Raj (NIRDPR) Hyderabad with key line departments to augment the efforts to achieve nutritional outcomes in the state of Telangana. This meeting was attended by secretaries and head of the departments and officials of Women and Child Development, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Health, Education, Tribal Welfare, SERP, and UNICEF.
The meeting was chaired by Dr. W. R. Reddy, Director General, NIRDPR, and the participants deliberated on the convergent actions required by the line departments, programs and schemes to achieve the POSHAN Abhiyaan targets set for 2022.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Reddy said an advancing state as Telangana should strive to achieve beyond the set targets and eliminate malnutrition in the state by 2022. This can be achieved by initiating a grassroot action through the involvement of Panchayati Raj Institutes.
“Addressing the nutritional needs of adolescent girls with appropriate interventions is the need of the hour,” said Mr. M. Jagdeeswhar, Principal Secretary, Department of Women and Child Development. Adding on this, he emphasized on the need for quality data to prioritize the most needed interventions to address the issue of malnutrition.
Other departments shared the work that is being done in the area of nutrition. The Department of Tribal Welfare shared their efforts in implementing Giri Poshana program, which focuses on how diverse food items improve the nutritional status of women and children in tribal areas. Ms. Pausami Basu, CEO, SERP, shared details about the behaviour change program that they were doing with the women in Self-Help Groups on issues of health, nutrition, sanitation and gender. Ms. Neetu Prasad, Commissioner, RD & PR, pledged her support for POSHAN Abhiyaan by ensuring participation of sarpanches in village-level programs.
Mr.Vijaya Kumar, Director ,School Education, Mrs. Neetu Prasad, Commissioner, Panchayati Raj, Dr.Christina Z Chongthu Commissioner Tribal Welfare, Pasumi Basu, CEO, SERP, Ms. Viziendira Boyi, Director, WCD, TS, and Meital Rusdia, Chief, UNICEF, Hyderabad and Specialists from UNICEF participated in the meeting.
