NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Pitches For Strengthening ‘Take Home Ration’ Scheme

New Delhi: NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman K Bery on Thursday (June 30) said there is a need to further strengthen the ‘Take Home Ration’ programme to achieve nutritional targets in a time-bound manner. The Take Home Ration (THR) programme provides fortified rations for home use for children aged between 6 and 36 months, and pregnant and lactating women. Launching a report titled ‘Take Home Ration – Good Practices across the State/Union Territories’, Mr Bery said this document will help state governments and Union Territories to adopt good practices in their THR programmes.

Also Read: Free Ration Scheme Extended Till September, Says PM After Cabinet Meeting

Mr Bery noted that the THR programme has been found to be very resilient in the face of the COVID-19 disruption and has helped communities to manage the negative impact of the pandemic on child and maternal nutrition.

Also speaking at the event, NITI Aayog member V K Paul said there is a need to develop and maintain the highest standards for ensuring quality in THR.

The entire THR value chain must ensure quality, transparency, and efficiency, he added.

The report suggests that in order to realise the full potential of THR, all components of this value chain need to function at optimum.

This requires building a robust system for procurement, supply chain management and monitoring that ensures complete transparency, standardised process, sustainability, full coverage, leverages local ties, fosters a culture of collaboration and builds trust within a community, it said.

According to the report, these measures improve THR access in rural areas, enhance community ownership and promote income generating activities and female empowerment.

Also Read: 9.06 Crore Indians May Go Hungry by 2030 Due To Climate Change: Study

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NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.