Tag: Nutrition

Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero hunger

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Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG 2), also known as Zero Hunger, aims to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030. It is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

SDG 2 recognizes that access to adequate, safe, and nutritious food is a basic human need. It focuses not only on increasing food production but also on ensuring that food is affordable, accessible, and distributed equitably. The goal also emphasizes sustainable agricultural practices, improved livelihoods for farmers, and the protection of natural resources to ensure long-term food security.

1. Understanding Hunger and Food Insecurity

Hunger is a condition in which people do not receive enough food to meet their energy and nutritional requirements. Food insecurity is a broader concept that refers to the inability to access sufficient, safe, and nutritious food regularly because of financial, social, environmental, or physical barriers.

Food insecurity can affect individuals and communities even when food is available in markets. High food prices, poverty, unemployment, inadequate transportation, and unequal distribution may prevent people from obtaining the food they need.

The four main dimensions of food security are:

  • Availability: Food must be produced in sufficient quantities or supplied through imports, storage, and distribution systems to meet the population’s needs.
  • Accessibility: Individuals and households must have the financial resources and physical access necessary to obtain food.
  • Utilization: Food must provide adequate nutrients and be prepared, stored, and consumed safely. Access to clean water, sanitation, and healthcare also influences nutritional outcomes.
  • Stability: Food availability, accessibility, and utilization must remain reliable over time, even during economic crises, natural disasters, or seasonal shortages.

Malnutrition is another major concern addressed by SDG 2. It includes undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and overnutrition. Malnutrition can affect physical growth, cognitive development, immunity, and overall well-being, particularly among children, pregnant women, and other vulnerable groups.

2. Targets of SDG 2

The United Nations has established eight major targets under SDG 2 to guide global efforts towards eliminating hunger and improving food systems by 2030.

Target 2.1: End Hunger and Ensure Access to Food

This target aims to end hunger and ensure that everyone, particularly poor and vulnerable populations, has access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food throughout the year.

Achieving this target requires effective food distribution systems, social protection programmes, affordable food prices, and reliable access to essential food supplies. Special attention must be given to low-income households, children, older people, and communities affected by emergencies.

Target 2.2: End All Forms of Malnutrition

This target focuses on eliminating malnutrition in all its forms, including undernutrition, stunting, wasting, and micronutrient deficiencies.

It emphasizes improving nutrition among children, adolescent girls, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and older people. Nutrition education, maternal healthcare, balanced diets, and school meal programmes can help improve nutritional outcomes.

Target 2.3: Double Agricultural Productivity and Incomes

This target aims to improve agricultural productivity and increase the incomes of small-scale food producers, particularly women, indigenous communities, family farmers, pastoralists, and fishers.

It emphasizes equal access to land, agricultural resources, financial services, technology, knowledge, and markets. Supporting small-scale producers can improve rural livelihoods, reduce poverty, and strengthen local food systems.

Target 2.4: Ensure Sustainable Food Production Systems

This target promotes sustainable and resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity while protecting the environment.

Practices such as crop rotation, efficient irrigation, soil conservation, integrated pest management, and climate-resilient farming can help reduce environmental damage. Sustainable agriculture also improves the ability of farming systems to withstand droughts, floods, and changing climatic conditions.

Target 2.5: Maintain Genetic Diversity

This target aims to preserve the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants, farmed and domesticated animals, and related wild species.

Seed banks, community seed conservation, traditional farming knowledge, and livestock conservation programmes are important measures for protecting biodiversity. Genetic diversity also helps agriculture adapt to diseases, pests, and environmental changes.

Target 2.a: Increase Investment in Agriculture

This target focuses on increasing investment in rural infrastructure, agricultural research, technology development, and extension services.

Investments in irrigation, rural roads, storage facilities, agricultural education, and research institutions can improve productivity and connect farmers with markets. International cooperation can also support agricultural development in developing countries.

Target 2.b: Correct and Prevent Trade Restrictions

This target seeks to reduce trade restrictions, distortions, and harmful agricultural subsidies in international agricultural markets.

Fairer agricultural trade can help producers access markets, improve the movement of food across regions, and create more stable trading conditions for developing countries.

Target 2.c: Ensure Stable Food Commodity Markets

This target aims to improve the functioning of food commodity markets and provide timely access to market information.

Monitoring food prices, strengthening market information systems, and improving storage and distribution can help reduce extreme price fluctuations. Stable food markets make it easier for households to plan their food expenditure and for farmers to make production decisions.

3. Major Causes of Hunger and Food Insecurity

Hunger is caused by several interconnected economic, social, political, and environmental factors. Addressing it requires an understanding of the underlying problems affecting food production and distribution.

  • Poverty and income inequality: People with limited incomes may be unable to afford sufficient and nutritious food. Economic inequality can also limit access to land, agricultural resources, and livelihood opportunities.
  • Climate change and natural disasters: Droughts, floods, heatwaves, and irregular rainfall can reduce agricultural yields, damage crops, and disrupt food supply chains. These impacts are especially serious for farmers who depend on rainfall.
  • Conflict and political instability: Wars and displacement disrupt agricultural production, transportation, markets, and humanitarian assistance. Conflict can also force communities to leave their homes and lose their livelihoods.
  • Unsustainable agricultural practices: Soil degradation, excessive groundwater extraction, deforestation, and the loss of biodiversity reduce the long-term productivity of agricultural land.
  • Food loss and wastage: Food is lost during harvesting, processing, storage, and transportation. Additional food waste occurs at retail outlets, restaurants, and households, reducing the effective availability of food.
  • Inadequate infrastructure: Poor rural roads, insufficient warehouses, limited cold-storage facilities, and weak distribution networks make it difficult to transport food efficiently from producers to consumers.
  • Limited nutritional awareness: A lack of information about balanced diets, dietary diversity, and appropriate nutrition can contribute to poor nutritional outcomes, even where food is available.

These factors demonstrate that hunger is not simply a consequence of insufficient food production. It is also related to unequal access, poverty, infrastructure gaps, environmental degradation, and weaknesses in food distribution systems.

4. Importance of SDG 2

Achieving Zero Hunger is essential for sustainable development because food security influences public health, education, employment, poverty reduction, and economic growth.

  1. Improved health and well-being: Adequate nutrition supports physical growth, strengthens immunity, and reduces the risk of nutrition-related health problems.
  2. Better educational outcomes: Children who receive sufficient and nutritious food are better equipped to concentrate, participate in school activities, and support their learning.
  3. Poverty reduction: Increasing agricultural productivity and supporting farmers can improve household incomes, create employment, and strengthen rural economies.
  4. Gender equality: Improving women’s access to land, finance, agricultural training, and nutrition services can strengthen household food security and economic independence.
  5. Environmental sustainability: Sustainable farming practices protect soil, water, and biodiversity while maintaining the productive capacity of agricultural land.
  6. Economic development: A healthy and adequately nourished population can participate more effectively in education, employment, and productive activities.
  7. Social stability: Reliable access to affordable food can reduce household vulnerability and help communities cope with economic and environmental shocks.

SDG 2 is closely connected with other Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 13 (Climate Action).

5. SDG 2 in India

India has made significant efforts to improve food security through agricultural development, public food distribution, and nutrition programmes. Agriculture remains important for rural livelihoods, employment, and the national food supply. However, challenges such as malnutrition, unequal access to nutritious diets, climate vulnerability, and low incomes among some farming households continue to require attention.

Major government initiatives contributing to SDG 2 include:

National Food Security Act, 2013

The National Food Security Act provides a legal framework for subsidized food grains to eligible households. It aims to improve food access for vulnerable populations and strengthen food security through the public distribution system.

Public Distribution System (PDS)

The Public Distribution System distributes essential food grains to eligible beneficiaries through fair-price shops. It helps improve the affordability and availability of staple food items, particularly for low-income households.

Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY)

This programme provides free food grains to eligible beneficiaries under the applicable government provisions. It supports household food security by reducing the financial burden associated with purchasing staple grains.

POSHAN Abhiyaan

POSHAN Abhiyaan focuses on improving nutritional outcomes, particularly among children, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and breastfeeding mothers. It emphasizes coordinated action, nutrition awareness, and the monitoring of nutrition-related services.

PM POSHAN Scheme

The PM POSHAN scheme provides cooked meals to eligible children in government and government-aided schools. It supports children’s nutritional intake and encourages school participation and attendance.

National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture

This mission promotes sustainable agricultural practices, efficient resource use, soil and water conservation, and improved resilience to climate variability. It supports the development of farming systems that can remain productive under changing environmental conditions.

Together, these programmes contribute to food availability, affordability, nutrition, and agricultural sustainability. However, effective implementation, improved service delivery, and regular monitoring remain important for achieving better outcomes.

6. Challenges in Achieving SDG 2

Despite global and national initiatives, several challenges continue to slow progress towards Zero Hunger.

  • Rising food prices: Increasing prices of essential food items can make nutritious diets unaffordable for low-income households.
  • Persistent malnutrition: Undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and inadequate dietary diversity continue to affect vulnerable populations.
  • Climate vulnerability: Farmers who depend on rainfall face uncertainty because of changing precipitation patterns, droughts, floods, and extreme temperatures.
  • Limited agricultural resources: Small-scale farmers may face difficulties accessing affordable credit, modern equipment, irrigation, quality seeds, insurance, and reliable markets.
  • Food supply chain inefficiencies: Inadequate storage, refrigeration, transportation, and processing facilities contribute to food loss and higher distribution costs.
  • Unequal access to food: Differences in income, location, infrastructure, and social conditions can prevent some communities from obtaining sufficient and nutritious food.
  • Environmental degradation: Soil erosion, groundwater depletion, and biodiversity loss threaten long-term agricultural productivity.
  • Coordination and implementation gaps: Effective food security requires coordination among agriculture, health, education, transport, and social welfare departments.

The United Nations continues to report that global progress towards Zero Hunger is insufficient to achieve the 2030 target. This highlights the need for stronger policies, greater investment, improved food systems, and coordinated international action.

7. Strategies to Achieve SDG 2

Achieving Zero Hunger requires a combination of agricultural, economic, environmental, technological, and social interventions.

1. Promote Sustainable Agriculture

Encourage crop rotation, efficient irrigation, soil conservation, agroforestry, and climate-resilient crop varieties. These practices can improve productivity while reducing pressure on natural resources.

2. Strengthen Food Distribution Systems

Improve storage facilities, cold chains, rural roads, transportation networks, and public food distribution systems. Efficient supply chains can reduce food loss and help food reach underserved communities.

3. Support Small-Scale Farmers

Provide farmers with affordable credit, crop insurance, agricultural training, improved seeds, modern technology, and access to markets. Stronger farmer support systems can improve incomes and reduce vulnerability to crop failure.

4. Improve Nutrition Awareness

Promote balanced diets, dietary diversity, breastfeeding support, maternal nutrition, and child nutrition education. Schools, healthcare centres, and community organisations can play an important role in spreading awareness.

5. Reduce Food Waste

Encourage better harvesting techniques, improved storage, responsible consumption, food recovery, and redistribution of surplus food. These measures can increase the amount of food available for consumption without requiring equivalent increases in production.

6. Use Modern Technology

Apply weather forecasting, precision agriculture, remote sensing, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to monitor crop conditions, assess drought risks, identify agricultural land, and improve resource management.

7. Strengthen Social Protection

Improve access to food assistance, school meal programmes, nutrition services, and income support for vulnerable households. Such measures can help families maintain food security during economic downturns and natural disasters.

8. Encourage Community Participation

Involve local governments, farmers’ groups, self-help groups, schools, and civil society organisations in planning and implementing food security initiatives. Community participation can help identify local needs and improve the effectiveness of programmes.

9. Invest in Agricultural Research

Support research into climate-resilient crops, sustainable farming methods, soil health, water efficiency, and pest management. Scientific innovation can improve agricultural productivity while reducing environmental impacts.

10. Improve Monitoring and Evaluation

Use reliable data on hunger, nutrition, food prices, agricultural production, and household access to food to evaluate programmes. Regular monitoring helps governments identify gaps, allocate resources efficiently, and measure progress towards SDG 2.

8. Conclusion

SDG 2, Zero Hunger, represents the global commitment to ending hunger, improving nutrition, ensuring food security, and promoting sustainable agriculture by 2030. It recognises that access to sufficient and nutritious food is essential for human well-being, economic development, and social equality.

Achieving this goal requires more than increasing food production. It involves ensuring equitable food distribution, making nutritious diets affordable, supporting small-scale farmers, protecting agricultural land, reducing food waste, and developing climate-resilient farming systems.

In India, food security programmes and agricultural initiatives provide an important foundation for progress. However, persistent nutritional inequalities, environmental pressures, and difficulties faced by vulnerable households and farmers require continued attention.

Governments, communities, farmers, researchers, and planners must work together to develop food systems that are accessible, sustainable, and resilient. Urban and regional planning can make an important contribution by protecting productive agricultural land, improving food supply infrastructure, strengthening rural-urban connections, and ensuring that underserved communities have access to affordable food.

Ultimately, achieving Zero Hunger means ensuring that every person has reliable access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food while protecting the natural resources on which future food production depends.

References

  1. United Nations. Goal 2: Zero Hunger. https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal2
  2. United Nations in India. Sustainable Development Goal 2: Zero Hunger. https://india.un.org/en/sdgs/2/progress
  3. United Nations Statistics Division. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026: Goal 2. https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2026/Goal-02/
  4. Government of India. National Food Security Act, 2013.
  5. Government of India. POSHAN Abhiyaan and PM POSHAN Scheme.

National Nutrition Week

To remain fit and healthy, one has to ensure to eat protein enriched diet. They have to make to eat the right thing to avoid health issues and deficiencies. National Nutrition Week is celebrated every year to remind the masses about the importance of healthy and nutritious food. During this week, various activities are conducted to remind people of the importance of nutrition in the body.

          You should choose a diet made of nutrient-rich foods. Nutrient-rich (or nutrient-dense) foods are low in sugar, sodium, starches, and bad fats. They contain a lot of vitamins and minerals and few calories. Your body needs vitamins and minerals, known as micronutrients. They nourish your body and help keep you healthy. They can reduce your risk for chronic diseases. Getting them through food ensures your body can absorb them properly.

            Try to eat a variety of foods to get different vitamins and minerals. Foods that naturally are nutrient-rich include fruits and vegetables. Lean meats, fish, whole grains, dairy, legumes, nuts, and seeds also are high in nutrients.

National Nutrition Week 2021 Date:

This year, National Nutrition Week is celebrated from 1st September to 7th September.

History:

This was started in March 1973 by a member of the American Dietetic Association. Their goal was to enlighten the profession of dietetics by delivering a nutritional education message. This initiative garnered a lot of support in the 1980s and later, it got expanded as a month-long observation.

In the year 1982, the Government of India started National Nutrition Week in India. This was done to educate the masses about the importance of being healthy and fit and at the same time the importance of nutrition and a healthy lifestyle.

National Nutrition Theme:

Every year, national nutrition week is based on a theme. This year, it is based on “feeding smart right from the start.” This will focus on consuming the right kind of food to stay healthy and fit.

Significance:

This week is observed to educate people about the science of consuming the right food and food choices through nutrition. A body requires energy, protein, essential fats, vitamins and minerals to live, grow and function properly. A balanced diet that includes all the essential parts of a healthy being is important. An unhealthy diet opens the gate to diseases.

The Food and Nutrition Board of the Government of India’s Ministry of Women and Child Development celebrates every year to educate the people about the importance of consuming the right and healthy food.

Understanding our body.

In today’s tiring and stressful life, people have been neglecting their health constantly. Be it clocking in less hours of sleep, or being under intense amount of stress, leading to behavioral changes and changes in food habits. Every day brings something new to the table, but what should remain constant is our lifestyle and our daily nutritional intake.

As Denis Waitley once said, “Time and Health are two assets that we don’t recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted.” We only become more conscious and aware of our lifestyle, when there are some fluctuations in our body.

As a society, we need to become more aware about the food we eat, the type of nutrients we consume on a daily basis, and for that, we need to understand our body first. Every person has a different nutritional requirement according to their body type. For someone performing resistance training or looking to build muscle mass, protein intake has to be significantly higher than the normal amount. For someone opting for high endurance training, high carbohydrate stores should be present in the body.

So let’s start with the basics of nutrition. Few of the important things we need in our body are proteins, carbs i.e. carbohydrates, fats, fiber and vitamins. We will not delve into details for all of them, but the basic working of these will be explained below.

Carbohydrates, proteins and fats, all of these can provide us with energy in the form of ATP. However, carbohydrates is the most used form for ATP.  Depending upon an individual’s basal metabolic rate, the requirements are different.

For Indians, if I assume a person is having a proper lunch including roti and rice, our carbohydrate and fat diet is pretty up to the mark. However for many people, especially vegetarians, protein sources are less. Hence, it is important to consciously eat more protein rich foods such as soya milk, tofu, paneer, dal and nuts. We need 0.8g protein for every kg body weight and hence protein intake should be at least 80% of the optimal requirement for normal bone growth and a healthy body.

One important aspect of diet that we usually overlook is fiber. Fiber helps for normal passage of food through our body and also helps in digestions. One should include fruits like apple and oranges, breakfast cereals, barley and oats along with beans and potato for fiber intake.

The next aspect of a diet is water. One should drink at least 6 glasses of water daily. Many people only drink water after exercising or during extreme thirst. One should make it a point to continually be sipping water throughout the day to keep the body hydrated and to flush out all the toxins from the body. Drinking water also helps keep the skin fresh and glowing. So, instead of looking at beauty regimes or when tackling skill problems, the first step should be to drink water.

The most underappreciated aspect of diet is sleep. Our body needs at least seven hours of sleep, and for kids, nine. Adequate amount of sleep ensure our body cells get regenerated and our brain gets rest. These are a few simple aspects of life that should one follow daily, and these show fast results, with improvements being seen from the very start.

MALNUTRITION IN INDIA

Nutrition plays an important role in determining a person’s health. Foundation of a good life is laid down in childhood where the food we eat plays an important role. Proper nutrition sets us up a good immune system and proper growth in us. This is the ideal condition but not the reality in most parts in India More than half of the deaths of children under the age of 5 in India are due to malnutrition. India has more than 46.6 million stunted children according to the Global Nutrition Report 2018. More than one-third of the world’s malnourished children live in India. Malnutrition is a poor condition of health of a person caused due to lack of food or a restrictive diet, it includes deficiencies, excess and imbalance intake of a person’s diet.
Malnutrition is divided into two broad classifications, undernutrition and over nutrition. Undernutrition is the lack or deficiency of nutrients or calories. Undernutrition comprises of stunting, wasting, underweight and deficiencies. Overnutrition is a condition where there is higher than needed uptake of nutrition. It includes overweight, obesity and chronic non-communicable diseases. Malnutrition affects people of all age group but malnourished children are at higher risk because these children do not have the adequate nutrition to build a strong immune system which exposes them to a wide array of diseases such as diarrhoea, measles. Chronic malnutrition can damage a child’s mental and physical development it also could affect the child’s growth and development. Malnutrition may result in decreased productivity and poor performance. Malnutrition puts pregnant women as the risk of pregnancy-related complications. Overnutrition causes obesity which leads to heart problems at the very least. India’s main reason for malnutrition is economic inequality. There is food production but people can’t afford them. Most of India’s population still lives below the national poverty line. 25 per cent of the world’s hungry call India their home. According to the data provided by UNICEF, one in three malnourished children in the world is Indian. Globally over 146 million children are malnourished and 46.6 million children reside in India.
Most of India’s population depends upon rains to grow their crops and with climate change and irregularities in rains force the family into poverty where there is no solid way of providing children with a healthy diet. Undernutrition is more prevalent in rural areas where much of the population depends on agriculture as its main force of income. Providing accessible healthy food to a population of a country is always a big problem. India has taken steps to overtake the problem. India has introduced the Mid Day meal scheme where free food is provided to government schools aided by government funds and donations given by individuals and corporations. India also launched the Intergraded Child Development Scheme where children and mothers are provided with through health and nutrition education, free or subsidized health services and supplementary food by the government, the program has reached over 70 million young children and 16 million pregnant women. Considering all factors India does have a high rate of malnutrition in the country but it has taken steps towards solving the problem.

Bickering Bollywood.

So we all know that Indian film industry aka Bollywood is the second highest movie producing industry in the whole world after Hollywood per annum. Well to be honest yeah i agree that Bollywood is a gold mine of vibrant,diverse and really amazing movies. But the question remains at the point as why such an old, powerful movie industry with actors like Shahrukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan who come in the list of top ten richest actors in the world, and with directors like Satyajit Ray are never producing movies which at least can be the bread and butter of the whole world. French and the German movie industry even the movie industry of Chile and the Korea is producing movies which garners massive popularity worldwide. In french we have Belle de Jour(1967) and ‘blue is the warmest color (2013), German’s having ‘The Marriage of Maria Braun(1978)’ and ‘Freier fall (2013)’, chile’s A fantstic woman (2017), the ripple maker Parasite(2019) and many more from many other countries as well. And then the question prevails why not Bollywood?

Movies like Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (1955) and Mira Nair’s Salam Bombay (1988) in a manner defined Indian movie industry’s potential. But current scenario Bollywood is all about nepotism and love stories nowadays. As if we see that famous movie Slumdog Millionaire(2008) which bagged eight Oscars is not what india is?But the entire movie industry of the world is running after one thing that if India is represented it either poverty or god forbid it’s about curry, thanks to everywhere you see starting from movies like critically acclaimed Lion(2016) or Love Sonoa(2018) everything is about how indians are suffering,human trafficking, lack of sanitation and blah blah blah!!! If we talk about that’s what we see i the world. But people need to realize something that India the world’s second most populous country,sixth largest economy and seventh largest country is not all about trash and poverty. This scenario as explained above is what shows the failure of bollywood. but not everythings bad as we can’t say that Bollywood has gone down totally in these recent years as we made so many good movies too like Raazi(2018), Neerja(2016), Uri(2019), Barfi(2012) , Lust stories(2018) , Mary Kom(2014), three idiots(2009), Bajirao Mastani (2015), Jodha Akbar(2008), Dangal(2016), Devdas(2002), My name is Khan(2010), Swades(2004), English Vinglish(2012), Tumbaad(2018), lagaan(2001), Tare zameen par(2007), PK(2014) and many more which show case the value of the Indian movie industry and it’s potentials.

Now if we talk about problem which is wrecking us all starts with the lack of originality and the rejection of new talent in Indian film industry and how can we forget the grandad of all fiasco the one and only Nepotism. Nepotism is whats actually responsible for killing the Indian film industry in a really gruesome manner as due to this the new talents in indian film industry is getting choked as we speak. Another big problem is the lack of experimentation and really comical and absurd action movies as I’m literally starving for a good science fiction movie or a bone chilling horror fiction at least. But all we get is boring love stories with a lot of songs which are not even sung by the actors but they are just LIP SYNCING to it. No diversity at all as white washing of the whole cast is the forte of bollywood. Not even a single dusky or black actor or actress in a lead role you will find here(leaving the very few exceptions). That’s what i meant when i wrote bickering bollywood as if bollywood won’t up it’s ante there will soon be what we call a hot white mess left in the indian subcontinent for people to watch. Toodles!

Social Empowerment of Women in Rural areas

Empowerment means giving strength to an individual. The empowerment of women has been considerably reasoned and penned all over the world. As per a well-known sociologist, empowerment of women means furnishing them to be economically independent, self-sufficient, in addition to providing positive self-esteem to face any adverse situation. Women should be prepared enough to take part in any development procedure.

Known and probably ‘repetitive’ points- but never got commissioned appropriately!

But now, after making these the last of the priorities for a good amount of time, the measures that will be taken into consideration towards the cause are stated below. Positive efforts are always welcomed.

Here they go:

Education
Equal access to education for women and girls will be ensured. Special measures will be taken to eliminate discrimination, universalize education, eradicate illiteracy, create a gender-sensitive educational system, increase enrolment and retention rates of girls and improve the quality of education to facilitate life-long learning as well as the development of occupation/vocation/technical skills by women. Reducing the gender gap in secondary and higher education would be a focus area. Sectorial time targets in existing policies will be achieved, with a special focus on girls and women, particularly those belonging to weaker sections including the Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes/Other Backward Classes Minorities. Gender-sensitive curricula would be developed at all levels of the educational system in order to address sex stereotyping as one of the causes of gender discrimination.

Health

A holistic approach to women’s health which includes both nutrition and health services will be adopted and special attention will be given to the needs of women and the girl at all stages of the
life cycle. The reduction of infant mortality and maternal mortality, which are sensitive indicators of human development, is a priority concern. This policy reiterates the national demographic goals for Infant Mortality Rate (IMR), Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) set out in the National Population Policy 2000. Women should have access to comprehensive, affordable and quality health care. Measures will be adopted that take into account the reproductive rights of women to enable them to exercise informed choices, their vulnerability to sexual and health problems together with endemic, infectious and communicable diseases such as malaria, TB, and water-borne diseases as well as hypertension and cardio-pulmonary diseases. The social, developmental and health consequences of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases will be tackled from a gender perspective. To effectively meet problems of infant and maternal mortality, and early marriage the availability of good and accurate data at micro level on deaths,
birth and marriages are required. Strict implementation of the registration of births and deaths would be ensured and registration of marriages would be made compulsory. In accordance with the commitment of the National Population Policy (2000) to population stabilization, this Policy recognizes the critical need of men and women to have access to safe, effective and affordable methods of family planning of their choice and the need to suitably address the issues of early marriages and spacing of children. Interventions such as the spread of
education, compulsory registration of marriage and special programmes like BSY should impact on delaying the age of marriage so that by 2024 child marriages are eliminated. Women’s traditional knowledge about health care and nutrition will be recognized through proper
documentation and its use will be encouraged. The use of Indian and alternative systems of medicine will be enhanced within the framework of overall health infrastructure available for women.

Nutrition

In view of the high risk of malnutrition and disease that women face at all the three critical stages viz., infancy and childhood, adolescent and reproductive phase, focused attention would be paid to meeting the nutritional needs of women at all stages of the life cycle. This is also important in view of the critical link between the health of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women with the health of the f infant and young children. Special efforts will be made to tackle the problem of micronutrient deficiencies especially amongst pregnant and lactating women as it leads to various diseases and disabilities. Intra-household discrimination in nutritional matters vis-à-vis girls and women will be sought to be ended through appropriate strategies. Widespread use of nutrition education would be made to address the issues of intra-household imbalances in nutrition and the special needs of pregnant and lactating women. Women’s participation will also be ensured in the planning, superintendence and delivery of the system.


Drinking-Water and Sanitation
Special attention will be given to the needs of women in the provision of safe drinking water, sewage disposal, toilet facilities and sanitation within accessible reach of households, especially in rural areas and urban slums. Women’s participation will be ensured in the planning, delivery and maintenance of such services.


Housing and Shelter
Women’s perspectives will be included in housing policies, planning of housing colonies and provision of shelter both in rural and urban areas. Special attention will be given for providing adequate and safe housing and accommodation for women including single women, heads of households, working women, students, apprentices and trainees.


Environment
Women will be involved and their perspectives reflected in the policies and programmer for the environment, conservation and restoration. Considering the impact of environmental factors on their livelihoods, women’s participation will be ensured in the conservation of the environment and control of environmental degradation. The vast majority of rural women still depends on the locally available non-commercial sources of energy such as animal dung, crop waste and fuelwood. In order to ensure the efficient use of these energy resources in an environment-friendly manner, the Policy will aim at promoting the programmes of non-conventional energy resources.
Women will be involved in spreading the use of solar energy, biogas, smokeless chulahs and other rural application so as to have a visible impact of these measures in influencing ecosystem and changing lifestyles of rural women.

Science and Technology
Programmes will be strengthened to bring about greater involvement of women in science and technology. These will include measures to motivate girls to take up science and technology for higher education and also ensure that development projects with scientific and technical inputs involve women fully. Efforts to develop a scientific temper and awareness will also be stepped up. Special measures would be taken for their training in areas where they have special skills like communication and information technology. Efforts to develop appropriate technologies suited to women’s needs as well as to reduce their drudgery will be given a special focus too.

Women in Difficult Circumstances
In recognition of the diversity of women’s situations and in acknowledgement of the needs of especially disadvantaged groups, measures and programmes will be undertaken to provide them with special assistance. These groups include women in extreme poverty, destitute women, women in conflict situations, women affected by natural calamities, women in less developed regions, the disabled widows, elderly women, single women in difficult circumstances, women heading households, those displaced from employment, migrants, women who are victims of marital violence, deserted women and prostitutes etc.

Violence against women
All forms of violence against women, physical and mental, whether at domestic or societal levels, including those arising from customs, traditions or accepted practices shall be dealt with effectively with eliminating its incidence. Institutions and mechanisms/schemes for assistance will be created and strengthened for prevention of such violence, including sexual harassment at workplace and customs like dowry; for the rehabilitation of the victims of violence and for taking effective action against the perpetrators of such violence. A special emphasis will also be laid on programmes and measures to deal with trafficking in women and girls.

Rights of the Girl Child

All forms of discrimination against the girl child and violation of her rights shall be eliminated by undertaking strong measures both preventive and punitive within and outside the family.
These would relate specifically to strict enforcement of laws against prenatal sex selection and the practices of female feticide, female infanticide, child marriage, child abuse and child prostitution etc. Removal of discrimination in the treatment of the girl child within the family and outside and projection of a positive image of the girl child will be actively fostered. There will be special emphasis on the needs of the girl child and earmarking of substantial investments in the areas relating to food and nutrition, health and education, and in vocational education. In
implementing programmes for eliminating child labour, there will be a special focus on girl children.

Mass Media

Media will be used to portray images consistent with the human dignity of girls and women policy. The policy will specifically strive to remove demeaning, degrading and negative conventional stereotypical images of women and violence against women. Private sector partners and media networks will be involved at all levels to ensure equal access for women particularly in the area of information and communication technologies. The media would be encouraged to develop codes of conduct, professional guidelines and other self-regulatory mechanisms to remove gender stereotypes and promote balanced portrayals of women and men.