India sets up national mission to eradicate malnutrition

NEW DELHI, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- The Indian government has approved the setting up of the National Nutrition Mission to eradicate malnutrition from the country,

The Cabinet of Ministers gave its nod to the National Nutrition Mission, which as an apex body. It will monitor, fix targets and guide the nutrition-related interventions across the country, an official release said Friday.

Addressing the media, Indian Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said "The government is committed to ensure that every child and pregnant woman and lactating mother gets adequate nutrition to eliminate malnutrition and stunting."

"The mission will strive to reduce the level of stunting, under nutrition, anemia and low birth weight babies. The results of setting up of the National Nutrition Mission will show up within a year," she added.

Indian Health Minister J.P. Nadda has also hailed the mission as a great initiative by the government.

"The government is committed to fighting malnutrition. The mission is the biggest step in this direction. An elaborate mechanism will be put in place under the Mission to monitor and track nutrition status," he said. Enditem