- Citizen Awareness Campaign: Conduct awareness campaigns on PMMVY eligibility, benefits, installments and the application process. Promote beneficiary testimonials and success stories through social and mass media.
- Launch of PMMVY Toolkit: Release of PMMVY toolkit for field implementation by States/UTs. Encourage States/UTs to localize and disseminate toolkit materials in regional languages.
Community Engagement: Nutrition as a Jan Andolan
The defining character of POSHAN Abhiyaan is its positioning of nutrition improvement as a Jan Andolan, a genuine people’s movement rather than a government-administered programme.
The mission recognises that lasting behavioural change around infant feeding practices, dietary diversity, antenatal care, hand hygiene, and institutional health-seeking can only be achieved through active community ownership and ground-level participation. Poshan Maah and Poshan Pakhwada are among the largest nutrition centric community mobilisation campaigns, and are conducted annually in designated months, to reach out to the masses to promote practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity.
Poshan Pakhwada (April 2026)
Observed annually since 2018, Poshan Pakhwada is a two-week intensive outreach campaign conducted in April to strengthen community mobilisation and reinforce key nutrition behaviours under POSHAN Abhiyaan.
In 2026, the 8th edition of Poshan Pakhwada is being held from 9th to 23rd April. Scientific evidence indicates that more than 85% of brain development occurs by the age of six years, with the most rapid growth taking place during the first 1000 days – a crucial period for optimal brain growth, physical development and holistic well-being.
Recognizing the critical importance of care and nutrition for children in the early stage of life, the 8th Poshan Pakhwada seeks to deepen the Jan Andolan by focusing on a scientifically critical and transformative theme “Maximizing Brain Development in the First Six Years of Life” and strengthen awareness among families and communities about practices that support healthy growth and
