Empowering women and families to build a nourished India

The Bhagavad Gita reminds us that food sustains all living beings. This ancient understanding acquires renewed significance in a century defined by artificial intelligence, technological advancement and economic transformation. A nation's strength rests not merely upon its infrastructure, industrial capacity or technological prowess, but also upon the health, nourishment and capabilities of its people. For a nation aspiring to harness its demographic dividend and anchor a developed future, addressing maternal and child undernutrition is not a peripheral welfare measure; it is an economic and developmental imperative.

The scale of the challenge remains considerable. According to the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019–21), 35.5 per cent of children under five were stunted, while anaemia affected 67.1 per cent of children aged 6–59 months. These figures underscore the need for sustained action and careful monitoring of nutritional outcomes. They also remind us that the success of public policy must ultimately be assessed not merely by the number of beneficiaries covered, but by the improvements it brings to their lives.

India's Anganwadi network occupies a pivotal position in this endeavour. Through supplementary nutrition, nutrition and health education, growth monitoring and early childhood care, Anganwadi centres connect public services with families at the grassroots. Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0, the Government has continued to strengthen this institutional framework. Digital tools such as the POSHAN Tracker can support beneficiary monitoring and follow-up, while improvements in Anganwadi infrastructure can help create more effective environments for nutrition and early childhood development. Nevertheless, technology and infrastructure must work in conjunction with informed families, capable frontline workers and sustained community participation.

It is in this larger context that the Angan Milan Seva undertaken by BJP Mahila Morcha under the Seva Sankalp Abhiyan assumes significance. Through an extensive grassroots outreach, the campaign reached more than seven lakh Anganwadi centres across the country. Angan Milan Seva sought to bring the message of nutrition directly to women, new mothers and families of malnourished children. Mahila Morcha workers visited Anganwadi centres, distributed nutrition kits containing food items and educated women about the importance of proper nourishment, particularly during pregnancy, after childbirth and in the early years of a child's life. Nutritional food was also provided to malnourished children. The initiative received support from state-level units and, in certain instances, state government initiatives, complementing the wider effort to strengthen nutrition awareness and community engagement.

An important dimension of this effort was the appeal to community members to voluntarily support malnourished children for a few months by helping ensure that their nutritional food and ration requirements were met. The idea was to encourage sustained community care for children who required additional support, rather than to treat nutrition as the exclusive responsibility of the state or the child's immediate family. This was a call for voluntary assistance, not formal adoption. Such support can complement the work of Anganwadi workers and health professionals, while children requiring specialised nutritional or medical care must continue to receive appropriate assessment and treatment.

The participation of Self-Help Groups adds another dimension to this approach. Women associated with SHGs linked to Anganwadi activities showcased handmade, traditional and nutrient-rich food products, drawing attention to locally available foods and indigenous culinary knowledge. Such participation can create opportunities to promote affordable, nutritious preparations while providing visibility to women's skills and products. When supported by appropriate nutritional guidance and opportunities for market access, these efforts can connect women's economic agency with the broader objectives of community nutrition and livelihood development.

True reform, however, demands the dismantling of invisible walls. For generations, deep-seated cultural taboos and domestic hierarchies have, in some households, influenced how food and care are distributed, sometimes leaving mothers and infants with inadequate nourishment. The promise of grassroots mobilisation lies partly in its ability to challenge such practices and make maternal and child nutrition a shared social concern. Through localised rituals such as Godh Bharai, which can provide opportunities to raise awareness about maternal nutrition, and Annaprashan, which can serve as a platform to educate families about appropriate complementary feeding, communities can encourage healthier practices from within.

The enduring measure of these efforts will lie in their contribution to better nutritional practices and healthier outcomes for mothers and children. When women have access to adequate nutrition and care, when families are equipped with reliable information, and when vulnerable children receive timely and sustained support, the foundations of human capability become stronger. Ancient wisdom and modern public policy then converge in a common purpose: to ensure that every child has the opportunity for a healthy beginning and every mother the support she deserves.

A nourished India is not merely an aspiration of public welfare; it is a prerequisite for a stronger, more productive and more equitable nation. By combining effective public services with informed communities and sustained women's leadership, India can advance towards the unbreakable foundations of Viksit Bharat in the spirit of Amrit Kaal.

Views expressed are personal