Jaipur: The Directorate of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Monday launched a month-long campaign titled Prerna 2.0 as part of attempts to strengthen maternal and child nutrition and health across the state. Officials said Prerna is short for Pregnancy Registration and Early Childhood Education and Nutrition Awareness.ICDS director Vasudev Malawat said the campaign will run from 19 Jan to 19 Feb and focus on identifying and registering eligible beneficiaries who have been left out of ICDS services. “The campaign will target pregnant women in their first trimesters, lactating mothers, children up to 6 years of age and adolescent girls,” Malawat said.He added that the initiative will link beneficiaries to key welfare schemes – including the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, the Chief Minister’s Maternity Nutrition Scheme, supplementary nutrition support and the Chief Minister’s Amrit Aahar Yojana – through Anganwadi centres.“A major focus of the campaign is improving early childhood outcomes based on the theme ‘Sashakt Anganwadi, Suposhit Bachpan’. Officials have been directed to ensure registration and regular attendance of children in pre-school education, alongside strengthened Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) for those in the 3–6 year age group,” Malawat added.To improve monitoring and service delivery, all deputy directors and female supervisors have been instructed to ensure 100% survey coverage and digital entry on the nutrition tracker digital platform.Officials added that Anganwadi workers and assistants have been instructed to ensure accurate recording of children’s weights and heights for growth monitoring. To support eligible beneficiaries, officials have also been asked to create APAAR and ABHA ids – digital student and health identifiers, respectively – for eligible beneficiaries.
