Sri Vijaya Puram, Sept. 30: Nutrition awareness and early-childhood services are being taken deeper into communities across the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with the Directorate of Social Welfare conducting programmes at all 720 Anganwadi Centres (AWCs) during the ninth Rashtriya Poshan Maah from September 9 to October 8.
The month-long campaign covers all five Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) project areas—Urban (Sri Vijaya Puram), Ferrargunj, Rangat, Diglipur and Nicobar—and targets households and communities across the Union Territory, including remote and tribal areas. The initiative focuses on strengthening public awareness and participation in nutrition and early childhood development.
The campaign follows the national theme “Hamari Anganwadi Hamari Jimmedari” (Our Anganwadi, Our Responsibility) and structures activities around five areas: dietary diversity and adequate protein, fresh hot cooked meals (HCM), community ownership and accountability, early childhood care and education (ECCE), and the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY).
The Anganwadi Centres serve as frontline platforms for nutrition, early childhood care, and maternal and child welfare. Activities across South Andaman, North and Middle Andaman and Nicobar districts seek to improve access to nutrition education, health and growth monitoring, early childhood care, and government schemes and services for mothers and children.
Mukhya Sevikas and Anganwadi Workers are conducting activities at the community level, including nutrition rallies, cooking demonstrations, health and growth-monitoring exercises, awareness sessions and outreach programmes in their respective areas.
The Directorate of Social Welfare has urged islanders to participate in Poshan Maah activities organised at their nearest Anganwadi Centre, placing community participation at the centre of efforts to improve nutrition, support healthy childhood development and promote maternal well-being.
