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Hello Jammu News at 5:32:00 PM 0

New Delhi, Sep 29: The Women and Child Development Ministry will give awards to those who helped in implementation of the 'Poshan Abhiyaan' and has asked the states and Union Territories to short-list work of frontline functionaries who have worked towards making 'Poshan Maah' a success.

The month of September has been celebrated across the 36 states and Union Territories as 'Rashtriya Poshan Maah' under 'Poshan Abhiyaan', the National Nutrition Mission which aims to bring down stunting of children in the age group of 0-6 years from 38.4 per cent to 25 per cent by 2022.

The government had last month decided to observe every September as the National Nutrition Month to mark the country's fight against malnutrition.

The awards are being given to sustain the momentum and recognise the efforts being put in at all levels as also to acknowledge the progress made by states in implementing 'Poshan Maah' under 'Poshan Abhiyaan', according to an official statement.

The Ministry has asked the states and Union territories to short-list work of frontline functionaries who have worked to make 'Poshan Maah' a success, the statement said.

The awards are being given in several categories. These include field level functionary awards, awards for individual excellence, village convergence award, leadership awards, state-level awards for best social media campaign, maximum reach across all themes, best innovative use of non-conventional methods of spreading awareness on Poshan, among others, the statement said.

The Poshan Award Ceremony is likely to be organised in the second week of October at New Delhi by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, it said.

The 'Poshan Abhiyan' additionally also aims to ensure convergence of all nutrition-related schemes and provide performance-based incentives to states and community nutrition and health workers, facilitating a focus on results. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 12:04:00 PM 0

New Delhi, Jul 21: The WCD Ministry has said that it has asked all states and Union territories to issue instructions for conducting inspection of all homes run by the Missionaries of Charity (MoC).

It has also asked the states and the Union territories to identify all potential institutions and organisations which could be involved in unlawful activities.

The Women and Child Development Ministry has asked the states to keep a close watch on the maternity hospitals and other facilities, which may also act as potential places for illegal and child trafficking.

The states have been asked to submit a status report by the end of the month.

The announcement comes days after Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi ordered all states to get the child-care homes run by the MoC inspected immediately.

The ministry also said they have instructed that all the state/Union territories should ensure that all the registered child care institutions, whether run by a state government or by voluntary or non-governmental organisations, are linked to specialised adoption agencies and are reflected in the online portal CARINGS within one month.

The Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS) is an app providing the adoption services. It is linked to CARA, the apex adoption body in the country.

The ministry said the move aims to address the grave concerns that has come to notice, through media reports, that some organisations have been propagating illegal adoption outside the domain of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, which is tantamount to child trafficking, the WCD Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry was hinting at the recent scandal at child care homes run by the MoC in Ranchi where staffers had allegedly sold four infants.

For speedy execution, the state governments and Union territories have also been asked to publish this direction in a local newspaper to ensure compliance by the institutions within the stipulated period, failing which action may be taken against the non-complying institutions, it said in a statement.

The Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 recognises the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) as the nodal agency for promoting and regulating in-country and inter-country adoptions, which is being facilitated through an online portal (CARINGS).

When contacted by PTI, the MoC had denied the allegations and said they were ready for any kind of inspection.

In 2015, an ideological row between the ministry and the MoC surfaced over issues like the MoCs' denial to give children to separated or divorced parents.

There was also a conflict over the MoCs not allowing adoption by single parents.

Gandhi had then said the government would have to derecognise the organisation if it continued to defy the revised guidelines.

"They have cited ideological issues with our adoption guidelines related to giving a child up for adoption to single, unwed mothers. They have their own agenda and now when they have to come under a unified secular agenda, they are refusing it," the minister had said in a statement in 2015.

Following the row, the Missionaries of Charity has decided to stop putting children up for adoption. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 12:15:00 PM 0

New Delhi, Jul 14: The WCD Ministry has asked states to nominate nutrition spokespersons in every district to ensure consistent and mass local engagement of people in the country's fight against malnourishment, an official said.

The spokespersons would be nominated for the 'Jan Andolan' launched by the ministry under the 'Poshan Abhiyan', a programme aimed to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers and to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anemia and low birth weight in children.

The ministry wants the programme to become a mass movement which sees participation from all stakeholders, a Women and Child Development Ministry official said.

"The ministry has asked the states to nominate nutrition spokespersons, who would ensure consistent and mass local engagement at every district," he said.

The spokespersons would be tasked with spreading awareness on the issue of malnourishment and stunting and would also recognise and incentivise nutrition champions.

They would also mobilise private and public sectors for malnutrition-free panchayats, he said.

The official said in order to spread awareness, the ministry will use mass media to improve the reach of 'Poshan Abhiyan'.

It would ensure free airtime to run advertising on nutrition during primetime on DD Regional.

The ministry will also promote broadcast of national programmes on nutrition and develop new programmes on nutrition.

They also plan to develop new programmes on nutrition- talk shows, local food or cuisine shows linked to nutrition and health on radio, he said.

The 'Poshan Abhiyan' has been tasked with bringing down stunting of the children in the age group of 0-6 years from 38.4 per cent to 25 per cent by the year 2022. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 4:10:00 PM 0

New Delhi, Jun 14: All NRI marriages solemnised in India would need to be registered within seven days, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said today.
If the NRI marriages are not registered within seven days, the passports and visas would not be issued.
Last week, Women and Child Development (WCD) Minister Maneka Gandhi had said that the NRI marriages would need to be registered within 48 hours.
The decision for mandatory registration of marriages within seven days was taken yesterday after a group of ministers - Gandhi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, met to map out legal solutions for redressing the issues faced by women in NRI marriages.
Officials at the ministry said that the discussions were held for enumerating fine details on ways to resolve the issues related to NRI marriages.
Another proposal discussed was holding the properties of NRI offenders in escrow in case they abscond abandoning their spouse. 
Escrow is a legal concept in which a financial instrument or an asset is held by a third party on behalf of two other parties that are in the process of completing a transaction.
The official said the move would require amendment of three legislations- Code of Criminal Procedure, Marriage Act and the Passports Act.
The three ministries were asked to formulate a draft legal amendments to give effect to decisions taken at the meeting. 
As of now, there is no time frame to register marriages in India. However, a Law Commission report has recommended that the time limit to register marriages should be restricted to 30 days after which a penalty of Rs 5 per day could be imposed.
The ministry had earlier constituted an Integrated Nodal Agency (INA) with representatives from the ministries of External Affairs, Home Affairs and Law and Justice to look into matrimonial disputes involving Non-Resident Indians (NRI). 
According to the recommendation of the National Commission for Women (NCW) and the decisions taken in the INA, look-out circulars are issued as per criteria defined by the MHA, for keeping a watch on arrival or departure of NRI husbands and preventing them from leaving India, the ministry had said. (PTI)
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Hello Jammu News at 6:06:00 PM 0



New Delhi, Mar 8: President Ram Nath Kovind will present Nari Shakti Puraskars 2017 to 30 individual and nine institutional awardees at a special ceremony to be held in Rashtrapati Bhavan on International Women’s Day on Thursday.
The Government of India confers Nari Shakti Puraskars on eminent women and institutions in recognition of their service towards the cause of women empowerment. 
The Ministry of Women and Child Development announces these national level awards for eminent women, organisations and institutions.
The winners are chosen by a Selection Committee which considers the achievements of organisations and individuals so nominated and recommends the awards. Outstanding contribution in the respective field is the primary consideration in selecting the recipients. For inviting the applications for the awards, an advertisement is published by the WCD Ministry in newspapers and through social media across the country.
The Ministry also writes to all State Governments, Union Territory Administrations, Central Ministries/ Departments. The awards are open to all institutions, organisations and individuals.
To be eligible for the awards, the nominee should be recommended by the state governments, Union Territory Administrations, Central Ministries/Departments, Non-Governmental Organisations, Universities/ Institutions, private and public sector undertakings (PSUs) working for empowerment of women. Women can also nominate themselves or by anyone from the general public to the Ministry. The Selection Committee may also, suo motu, recommend a person or institution for the award, an official release here said. UNI
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Hello Jammu News at 5:11:00 PM 0

New Delhi, Nov 7: Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi on Tuesday launched a comprehensive online complaint system called #SHeBox, dedicated to address harassment grievances faced by women in the workplace.
Her comments came at the launch function of the comprehensive online complaint system called #SHeBox, where she assured that her ministry 'is committed to combat violence and abuse of any form against women.' The initiative offered the facility of making online complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace to all women employees, including government and private, she noted, pointing out that the ministry had developed 'an online complaint management system to ensure effective implementation of the Sexual Harassment at the Workplace Act. The idea behind the initiative was 'an effort to provide speedier remedy to women facing sexual harassment at the workplace'. To ensure a safe working environment for women, the Union Government has enacted the #SHeBox under the Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act, 2013, she said. The #SHeBox is an interactive section where harassed women can voice grievances, ask questions and give suggestions. To help the employee and employers better deal with sexual harassment at the workplace, the facility provides essential resources, informative videos and empanelled institutions. Complainants have been asked to speak up and flag the ministry if needed in the event if their organisations had not constituted an Internal Complaints Committee to redress these grievances. Users of the complaints box had the option of interacting with the WCD ministry through the portal, with an assured time-bound response. It also facilitated both the ministry as well as the complainant to monitor the progress of inquiry. UNI
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