YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme: Striving to Serve Nutritious Food

Healthy women play a major role in determining the nutritional status of their children. Most Indian women are dealing with the problem of undernutrition or malnutrition due to factors like child marriage, conception, lack of education, poverty, and domestic violence, etc. The Indian Government through various policies has been trying to address these issues relating to women and child health but fails to reach them due to the weak implementation and corruption.

The Government of Andhra Pradesh launched the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme on 1^st September 2020. A budget of Rupees 1863 crore to provide a proper nutrition filled food to the pregnant ladies, lactating women, and children from 6 months to 6 years of age. The YSR SampoornaPoshan Plus Scheme will provide coverage to about 30 lakh women containing approx. 47,267 Anganwadi centers out of which about 27 lakh women are expected to benefit. The remaining amount in the budget approved by the Andhra Pradesh Government will be allocated for 3 lakh infants and women living in the tribal areas.

Features of the Scheme

The following are the features of the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme-

• The Government of Andhra Pradesh aims to give a healthy diet and food filled with nutrition to the women expecting their child and infants and improve their overall health.
• The YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme will provide coverage to over 3 lakh women living in the tribal areas and bring them under 8320 Anganwadi centers.
• The children between the age group 3 to 6 years will be provided with the eggs and milk every day.
• Spending of Rupees 1100 per month will be done by the Andhra Pradesh government on the diet plan of pregnant women.

Meal Plan for YSR Sampoorna Poshan Plus Scheme

The following are the meal plan of the YSR Sampoorna Poshan Plus Scheme provided by the Government of Andhra Pradesh to their respective residents-

• The children between 6 months to 36 months are provided with;
• one egg,
• 200 ml of milk
• 100 grams Balamrutham

Such a diet plan will be provided for a month on the daily basis. The cost of such a meal per beneficiary will be around 600 rupees and the ration can be taken home by the beneficiaries.

• The children from 36 months to 72 months will be given the following meal plan;
• Hot cooked meal
• 75gram rice
• 15gram dal
• 5gram oil
• 25gram vegetables
• One egg
• 20ml milk
• Payasam or laddoo or biscuits or cakes

Such a meal plan will be provided for 25 days daily that will be fed at the AWS centers. The cost of the meal plan will be about rupees 500 per month per beneficiary.

Meal Plan for Pregnant Ladies & Lactating Mother

The meal plan for the pregnant ladies and lactating mother is as following-

1. Hot cook meal
2. 125gram rice
3. 30gram dal
4. 16gram oil
5. 50gram vegetables
6. One egg
7. 200 ml of milk

The meal plan for the women and lactating pregnant mothers will be based on a millet, protein, iron, and energy filled diet that will be provided in the 1^st week of the plan.

While on the second-week multi-grain atta or 2 kg wheat flour will be provided.

On the third week of the meal plan, 500gram groundnut chikki will be provided in the third week.

On the 4^th week, 50gram ragi, flour, or wheat flour, and 500gram jaggery, and 500gram tilladdu will be provided to them.

The following meal plan will be fed at the AWS center and it will be taken home on the weekly basis. The per month cost of the meal plan is rupees 1062 per beneficiary.

Eligibility for YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme

The following eligibility criteria must be followed by the applicant-

• The pregnant ladies or lactating mothers residing in the state of Andhra Pradesh are eligible to apply for the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme.
• Infants, newly born babies, or kids will also be eligible for the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme.
• Such applicants applying for the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme must belong to a poor family or lower income group or must be from the backward category.
• The applicant must be a permanent resident of the state of Andhra Pradesh having a domicile certificate of the state.
• The applicants aged between 6 months to 72 months will be eligible for the benefits under the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme.

Enrollment under YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme

Following are the procedure for enrollment under the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme-

• The survey of the catchment area of Anganwadi Center (AWC) will be conducted by the Anganwadi workers to enroll the beneficiaries under the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme.
• The registration of the pregnant ladies, lactating mothers, and children between 6 months to 6 years in the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme will be conducted by the Anganwadi workers.
• The details of all the applicants will be registered in the Common Application Software (CAS) to monitor the delivery of the services.
• The growth rate including the height and weight of every child will be monitored every month at the Anganwadi Centers.
• The weight of the pregnant ladies will be tracked and recorded in CAS at the Anganwadi centers every month.
• The list of SUM, SAM, and MAM children shall be furnished by the supervisor or AWW to ASHA, ANM, and MO (PHC).
• Various awareness programs will be conducted to make the women aware of the utilization of protein and energy-based take-home meals provided to them.

Documents Required

Following are the documents required for applying under the YSR Sampoorna Poshan Plus Scheme-

• Residential proof
• Medical certificate of women
• Age certificate of the child
• Identity proof

Registration under YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme

The women and children eligible for the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme will be registered by the Anganwadi workers by the respective project officer, ITDA with the Project Director, District women, and Development Authority of children and women will be responsible for the implementation of the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme.

• The Anganwadi workers will survey the Anganwadi Center Catchment Area and register all the women and children eligible for the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Scheme. The Anganwadiworkers must make special efforts to register the women and children living in remote areas.
• The registration of pregnant ladies, lactating women, and children aged between 6 months to 6 years in the Andhra Pradesh Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme is mandatory.
• The Common Registration Software (CAS) will register all the details required for organizing the service delivery system.
• The Common Registration Software (CAS) must register all the details relating to the eligible children for the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme.
• The Anganwadi centers will keep a track of the growth rate of every child registered under the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme.
• The Anganwadi centers will also keep track of the pregnant women’s weight every month and will be recorded in CAS.
• The Anganwadi workers will organize ASHA-ANM to perform various functions like the distribution of IFA tablets, administering worming drugs to the pregnant ladies, and various medical check-ups of lactating mothers.
• Periodic home visits will be made by the Anganwadi workers, supervisors, and CDPOs to counsel and educate people about the infant young child feeding practices.
• The Anganwadi workers will ensure that the protein, energy-based meals, or ration items are consumed by the pregnant ladies and lactating mothers only and not by their family members.

Conclusion

According to the data, about 52.9 percent of the pregnant women in Andhra Pradesh are suffering from the acute form of anemia, while about 31.9 percent of the infants are suffering from low birth weights, and 31.4 percent are facing the problem of retarded growth rates. The feeble and vulnerable sections of Indian society have been prone to the problem of malnutrition and under-nutrition in India.

Therefore, to bring down the number of cases dealing with the problem of malnutrition and to provide a healthy and nutritious meal to the vulnerable section of society, the Andhra Pradesh Government has launched the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme.

The Andhra Pradesh government is committed to benefiting about 30.16 lakh mothers and children of their state. Not only the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme will provide a nutritious meal to the women and children, but also help in preparing them to enter the schools. At Aatmnirbhar Sena, we are raising awareness about this healthcare scheme by the Andhra Pradesh government.

The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh to implement the YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus Scheme has ensured the effective implementation and monitoring of the scheme by developing a comprehensive Mobile App developed by the Department of Women Development and Child Welfare.