Morung Express News
Kohima | February 6
The Department of Social Welfare (DSW), Nagaland, has sought additional time from the Gauhati High Court Kohima Bench (GHCKB) to provide an updated status report on the implementation of the Poshan Tracker Application/Dashboard.
On February 5, the DSW counsel informed the GHCKB Division Bench of Justice Manash Ranjan Pathak and Justice Kakheto Sema that the verification process was still underway and requested at least four more weeks to submit the latest report.
Earlier, on December 11, 2024, the GHCKB was informed that the implementation of the Poshan Tracker, mandated by the Union Government, was in progress. The Court also asked the Social Welfare Department to clarify whether awareness programmes on the Poshan Tracker had been undertaken by the State Legal Services Authority and the District Legal Services Authority for the benefit of targeted communities.
The application, which is to be linked with Aadhaar, includes a Stock Register Module designed to help Anganwadi workers track Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) stock, maintain detailed records, and manage stock distribution based on daily Take-Home Rations (THR) and Creche Meals (CM).
Further, the Court had directed Central Government Counsel (CGC) to seek instructions regarding the acceptance of the Utilisation Certificate for funds allocated to Nagaland under the programme. The CGC, however, sought more time to obtain the necessary instructions.
Accordingly, the Court fixed the next hearing of the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning the working conditions of the Anganwadi Centres in Nagaland, as well as the implementation of some provisions of the National Food Security Act, 2013, for February 19. As directed on December 11, the counsels were instructed to place the up-to-date status report and instructions, respectively.
What is the Poshan Tracker Dashboard?
The Poshan Tracker is a mobile-based application for dynamic identification of stunting, wasting, and underweight prevalence among children, as well as last-mile tracking of nutrition service delivery.
As per the Court records, the Poshan Tracker Dashboard, introduced for supplementary nutrition, was designed to represent: 1) month-wise count of supplementary nutrition, 2) Take-Home Ration given to pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children aged 6 months to 3 years (both active and inactive beneficiaries), and 3) hot cooked meals given to children aged 3 years to 6 years (both active and inactive beneficiaries), limited to non-school-going children.
Through the Poshan Tracker Dashboard, beneficiary data is intended to be made available at the Project, Sector, and Anganwadi Centre levels and is designed to assist in SNP projects by providing the count of Aadhaar-verified active beneficiaries as of the last date of each month.
