‘Poshan Bhi, Padhai Bhi’ Campaign

‘Poshan Bhi, Padhai Bhi’ Campaign  , Daily current Affairs , RACE IAS : Best IAS Coaching in Lucknow 

Main Examination: General Studies 2,3

(Schemes, missions and campaigns related to social justice)

Why in News:

  • Recently, Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani launched the Centre's flagship program 'Poshan Bhi, Padhai Bhi' campaign which will focus on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) in Anganwadis across the country.

About 'Poshan Bhi, Padhai Bhi' campaign:

  • The campaign was announced by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in September 2022 with an aim to focus on early childhood care and education in 14 lakh Anganwadi centres.
  • This campaign launched by the central government for early childhood care, education is an Anganwadi scheme.
  • The objective of which is not only to make Anganwadi centers nutrition centers, but also to make education imparting centers.
  • Allocated Rs 600 crore for training of Anganwadi workers to implement ECCE.
  • Under this campaign, National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) has been contracted for training of Anganwadi workers.

Significance :

  • This centrally sponsored campaign will focus on ECCE education in mother tongue under the new education policy.
  • According to the guidelines of the National Education Policy 2020, the government will be able to set goals to strengthen the foundation of the country's future generations along with the 'Poshan Bhi Padhi Bhi' campaign.
  • The government will target the development of children in each of the areas mentioned in the National Curriculum Framework,which includes physical and mental development, cognitive development, socio-emotional-moral development, cultural/artistic development and communication and early language, spread of literacy and numeracy.
  • National Early Childhood Care and Education Action for developmentally targeted, play-based, activity-based learning for children in the age group of 0-3 years as well as children in the age group of 3-6 years, in addition to special support for all state children with disabilities. Will follow the recommendations of the team.
  • Every child will be provided with at least two hours of high quality elementary school education on a daily basis through the 'Poshan Bhi, Padhi Bhi' campaign.
  • In line with the recommendations of the National Education Policy, Anganwadi centers will be empowered with high quality infrastructure, sports equipment and well-trained Anganwadi workers/teachers.
  • The campaign will focus on to promote holistic and quality early initiation and early-primary education for children, ensure the use of developmentally appropriate pedagogy, and emphasize health and nutritional services in early childhood, alongside primary education..
  • Through this campaign, various types of teaching-learning materials will be provided to Anganwadi workers for learning and teaching in mother tongue.
  • The campaign will help create a mass movement involving communities in strengthening the foundation of the future generations of the country.

National Program for Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE):

  • This national program is being organized on May 10, 2023 under the second phase of Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Nutrition Campaign (Mission Nutrition 2.0).
  • This program is mentioned under the new National Education Policy, 2020.
  • The event will highlight best early childhood care and education practices from the states of Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
  • The main objective of the event is to highlight the need to focus on the care and education of early childhood children.
  • As suggested by the National Education Policy, the second main objective of this program is to ensure in India the world's largest, universal, high-quality elementary school system.

About Anganwadi Center :

  • Anganwadi is a type of rural child care center that serves as an important link between the government and the rural population, especially pregnant women, new mothers and children under 6 years of age.
  • About 13.9 lakh Anganwadi centers are operational across the country in which supplementary nutrition and early care and education are being provided to about 8 crore beneficiary children below the age of 6 years.
  • These centers are capable of providing education in line with the global certificate of achieving 85% brain potential development by the age of 6 years in India.
  • An important center for building the basic potential of the country's children with the aim of securing their future.

Mission Poshan 2.0 Program :

  • Mission Poshan 2.0 is an integrated nutrition support programme. It addresses the challenges of malnutrition among children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

Nutrition Tracker :

  • The “Nutrition Tracker” was launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development on March 1, 2021. Under Nutrition Tracker, technology is used to identify children who are underweight, wasting, and monitor nutrition service delivery.

Mission Shakti :

  • Mission Shakti is an integrated citizen-centric lifelong support scheme for women. Mission Shakti has two sub-schemes – Sambal and Sakshamta. The Sambal sub-plan is for the safety and protection of women, while the Sambhalta sub-plan is for the empowerment of women. The Sambal sub-plan includes existing schemes like One Stop Center (OSC), Women Helpline (181-WHL) and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao. Empowerment of women is included in the empowerment sub-plan. Under this, existing schemes like Ujjwala, Swadhar Greh and Working Women Hostel have been kept. Apart from these, National Crèche Scheme for children of working women and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana have also been included in 'Samarthya'. It is noteworthy that earlier these schemes were included in the ICDS scheme.

Mission Vatsalya:

  • Mission Vatsalya aims to provide a healthy and happy childhood to every child in India. Apart from this, the objectives of the scheme include creating a sensitive, supportive and timely eco-system for the development of children, assisting the States/UTs in providing justice under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Other Central Government Schemes for Children:

  • Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS),
  • Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS),
  • Ujjwala Yojana,
  • National Program for Adolescent Girls,
  • Balika Samriddhi Yojana,
  • Kishori Shakti Yojana,
  • Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme,
  • Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana,
  • Swadhar.

Conclusion:

  • Women and children constitute 67.7 percent of India's population. It is necessary to ensure their empowerment and their positive development in a safe and secure environment.

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Mains Exam Question

Outline the various initiatives taken by the Government of India for the welfare of women and children.