Supplementary Nutrition Under NFSA

The entitlements referred to in Sections 4,5 and Section 6 of the National Food Security Act, 2013 are provided under the Supplementary Nutritional Programme of Anganwadi Services of the Central Government to pregnant women and lactating mothers till six months after child birth, and to every child in the age group of six months to six years.

Supplementary Nutrition (SNP) is provided for 300 days in a year. SNP provided to the beneficiaries is in the form of supplementary food and not a full meal and has been primarily designed to bridge the gap between the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) and the Average Daily Intake (ADI). Moreover, Anganwadi Centres are also not open for all 365 days in a year. Further, this Ministry has also, vide communication dated 13.01.2021, issued streamlining guidelines to all States/UTs on quality assurance, roles and responsibilities of Duty Holders, procedure for procurement, integrating AYUSH concepts and data management and monitoring through `Poshan Tracker’ for transparency, efficiency and accountability in delivery of Supplementary Nutrition.

This information was given by the Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.