Community-based delivery systems, such as Anganwadi Centers, Women’s Self Help Groups and Women’s Cooperatives play a vital role in translating the Government of India’s nutritional guidelines into action. Their presence on the ground guarantees last-mile access and accountability. The Take Home Ration (THR) provided under POSHAN 2.0 and Saksham Anganwadi scheme plays a critical role in ensuring nutrition resilience for vulnerable populations [children below 3 years of age and pregnant women and lactating mothers (PW&LMs)]. While the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) provides guidelines (along with budgetary allocations under central share) for the provision of THR, states across India adopt differing implementation practices. 

While THR guidelines largely focused at macronutrients, the recent National Food Security Act (NFSA) recommendations for THR (2023) provides age-specific standards for THR with a stronger focus on protein and micronutrient adequacy for children 6m – 1 year and 1-3 years, as opposed to the earlier blanket recommendation of macronutrients for all children 6m – 3 years. Age-specific requirements align the THR formulations with global nutrition science, enhancing the government’s ability to prevent malnutrition during the first 1000 days of life. The MoWCD also issued an advisory in 2025 recommending reduction of sugar, salt; and a complete ban of artificial colours, flavours, and preservatives. While these recommendations are welcome steps towards provision of healthier diets to vulnerable populations through social protection, several questions remain unanswered.

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) India, in partnership with the Nutrition Futures Initiative (NFI), has launched a webinar series called THRive to explore pathways to improving delivery of THR across India. Last month, we held our first webinar on the theme ‘Understanding the updated THR norms: What’s new and what’s next.’ The event saw participation from subject matter experts, development partners, and state departments to articulate best practices, opportunities and challenges in the roll out of the recent guidelines, and actionable next steps needed across key stakeholders for effective implementation.  

Following the event, our esteemed speakers co-authored a Call to Action, which emphasizes the importance of bridging the gaps between guidelines and implementation at the state level. Pertinent discussions focusing on the need for decentralized innovative strategies to meet nutrient requirements piqued my curiosity in terms of opportunities for ingenuity. The need to increase per beneficiary budgetary allocation, along with clearly articulated operational guidelines from the MoWCD came out clearly as next steps that would greatly benefit states in ensuring developmental age-appropriate THR provision. The Call to Action also articulates the need for states to ramp up efforts to identify and plan for supply chain efficiencies, implementation capacity to ensure quality assured THR production and supply at scale.  

Lookout for our second webinar under the THRive series in early 2026, which aims to showcase best practices at the state level in providing THR that is culturally sensitive and nutritionally enriched, and what lessons can we learn from one another in strengthening THR. In the meantime, we invite diverse stakeholders to co-create solutions and help shape the THR agenda by joining GAIN and our partners on the Nutrition Futures Initiative (NFI), GAIN’s co-innovation platform for nutrition-sensitive social protection. Through NFI, we will be creating opportunities for further engagement on THR in India via open public dialogues, co-innovation partnerships, and other engagements. Learn more about NFI and sign up today at www.nutritionfutures.org to join the conversation!