NEW DELHI: In an attempt to strengthen India’s nutritional delivery, Nirmala Sitaramam, Minister of Finance, Government of India, on Monday, February 2, announced that the government will combine supplementary nutrition programmes and Poshan Abhiyan to launch Mission Poshan 2.0. Sitaraman said that the principal objective of Mission Poshan 2.0 will be to boost nutritional outcomes in 112 aspirational districts.
The government is also set to introduce Jal Jeevan Mission Urban with an expenditure of Rs 2.87 lakh crore over five years to ensure universal water supply in all 4,378 urban bodies with 2.86 crore household tap connections and liquid waste management in 5,000 Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) cities.
In the context of education, Sitaraman said that more than 15,000 schools will be conditionally nourished under the National Educational Policy 2020 and they will hold-hands and guide other schools to achieve the ideals of the policy. She added that more than 100 new Sainik schools will be established in partnerships with Non-Governmental Organisations, including private schools and state board schools.
Furthermore, the government will initiate legislation this year to launch the Higher Education Commission of India, as previously outlined in the new education policy. This will be an umbrella body that will look into standards, endorsement, administration and financing in the higher education space. Sitaraman also said that Urban Swacch Bharat Mission 2.0 will be enacted with a total financial allocation of Rs 1,41,678 crore over 5 years from 2021. She said it will concentrate on complete faecal sludge management, waste water treatment, source segregation, management of waste from urban construction and bioremediation of legacy dump sites.