Rs 35,600 Cr. Outlay for Nutrition-Related Programmes in Union Budget 2020-21

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Highlighting the importance of nurturing a caring society, Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister  Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled several key proposals with a focus on women and child and social welfare in the Union Budget 2020-21 presented in Parliament on February 1, 2020.

Sitharaman informed that ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ has yielded positive results. Gross enrolment ratio of girls across all levels of education is now higher than boys. At elementary level, it is 94.32 % as against 89.28 % for boys, the Finance Minister highlighted. Similar trends in gross enrolment ratio were also observed at secondary and higher secondary levels, she added.

Emphasising on nutrition as a critical component of health, Sitharaman proposed to provide Rs 35,600 crore for nutrition-related programmes for the year 2020-21. She drew attention to the Poshan Abhiyan, which was launched in 2017-18 to improve the nutritional status of children (0-6 years), adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers. She further said that more than six lakh Aanganwadi workers have been equipped with smart phones to upload the nutritional status of more than 10 crore households, which is an unprecedented development, according to a PIB release.

In her Budget speech, the Finance Minister also announced that a task force will be appointed to recommend for lowering MMR and improving nutrition levels. She noted that with India’s progress, opportunities were opening up for women to pursue higher education and careers, and the entire issue about age of a girl entering motherhood, therefore, needed to be seen in a new light. She proposed to appoint a task force for this purpose which would present its recommendations in six months’ time.

Highlighting the Central Government’s continued commitment to the welfare of women, the Finance Minister proposed an outlay of about Rs 28,600 crore for programmes that were specific to women.