Leh: The UT Level Committee of Mission Vatsalaya, Mission Poshan, and Mission Shakti on Wednesday approved the annual implementation plan of the three Missions steered by the Ministry of Women & Child Development for the financial year 2023-2024, at the total cost of Rs 32.71 Crore.
These included Rs 2.69 crore for Mission Shakti, Rs 6.09 crore for Mission Vatsalaya and around Rs 23.93 crores for Mission Poshan.
The committee, headed by Advisor Ladakh, Umang Narula, also discussed strategies to ensure effective implementation of these missions in Ladakh in a high-level meeting chaired here today.
Mission Vatsalaya aims to provide care and protection to vulnerable children, while Mission Poshan aims to improve the nutritional status of children, adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women in the country. Mission Shakti aims to empower women and ensure their safety and dignity.
During the meeting, various strategies were discussed to ensure effective implementation, awareness and strengthening of these missions in Ladakh, a spokesperson said.
Director Social Welfare, Suman Beniwal presented a comprehensive report to the Committee on the progress achieved under Mission Vatsalaya, Mission Poshan, and Mission Shakti, along with presenting the budget summary for UT Ladakh for the FY 2023-2024. She highlighted that the department is proposing setting up a Specialised Adoption Agency to facilitate adoption of the children who are legally free for adoption. Women Helpline and Child Helpline are being established in Ladakh and integrated with the Emergency Response Service No 112 and the proposal includes the manpower requirements for these Helplines. Suman Beniwal presented the proposed budget of Rs 2.69 crore for Mission Shakti, Rs 6.09 crore for Mission Vatsalaya and around Rs 23.93 crores for Mission Poshan.
Advisor Narula stressed on convergence with schemes and initiatives of other Departments to achieve the objectives of these missions. He emphasized the importance of involving all stakeholders, including community-based organizations, civil society groups, NGO’s, Panchayats, in the implementation of these missions. He gave directions to devise a monitoring mechanism to track the progress of these missions and to address any challenges that may arise during the implementation. Advisor Narula directed that insurance coverage be provided for Anganwadi workers as a welfare measure for their benefit. The Advisor emphasized the importance of regularly updating the relevant beneficiary data in the Poshan Tracker app, as per the instructions given, and generating/submitting reports/returns as specified. He urged all officials and field staff to work with dedication and commitment towards achieving the objectives of these missions and emphasized that the success of these missions would be a step forward in achieving the vision of a healthy, empowered, and prosperous Ladakh.
The Commissioner/Secretary, Social and Tribal Welfare, Padma Angmo shared the progress made under these missions.
During the meeting, Padma Angmo provided an update on Mission Vatsalya, saying there are three Government run Child Care Institutions in Ladakh besides those run by NGOs all of which are registered.
On Mission Poshan, she said that fortified food, including rice, is being served to children at all anganwadi centres in Ladakh and millets will soon be introduced into the children’s diet at these centres.
In addition, Padma Angmo provided an update on various initiatives under Mission Shakti aimed at enhancing women’s safety, security, and empowerment. Two sub-schemes, namely ‘Sambal’ (focusing on safety and security of women) and ‘Samarthya’ (emphasizing women’s empowerment) were discussed. Under the ‘Sambal’ scheme, of Mission Shakti, One-Stop Centres have been established, and a 300-bed working women’s hostel is being constructed in both districts under SDP.
Commissioner/Secretary, PHE and I&FC A.K. Sahu shared that under Jal Jeevan Mission district Leh has achieved 100% Functional Household Tap Connection (FHTC) coverage in schools and anganwadi centres. Whereas district Kargil has achieved 98.53% in schools and 94.21% in the Anganwadi centres respectively.
