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Poshan Maah Open Essay Writing Competition

Introduction

The National Commission for Women, a Statutory Body set up in January 1992 under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 has the mandate to safeguard the constitutional and statutory rights of women. The Commission initiates programme which aid empowerment and holistic development of women so that they are capable to gain access to opportunities and make their own decisions.

Health is a major concern worldwide. Women and children form an important pillar of the society and it is crucial to focus on their health and nutrition. The health concerns of women are numerous and influenced by various factors like gender disparities, early marriage, domestic violence and sexual abuse, malnutrition, poverty, illiteracy and access to quality healthcare.

The Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is making serious efforts to address this issue. The Prime Minister's Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition or POSHAN Abhiyaan or National Nutrition Mission is Government of India's flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women and lactating mothers. Launched on the occasion of the International Women's Day on 8 March, 2018 from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan, the POSHAN Abhiyaan directs the attention of the country towards the problem of malnutrition and addresses it in a mission-mode. To give momentum to POSHAN Abhiyan, 'National Council on India's Nutrition Challenges' on 24th July 2018 decided to celebrate the month of September as Rashtriya Poshan Maah.

Taking into account the celebration of fourth Rashtriya Poshan Maah (September 2021) under Poshan Abhiyan, the Commission has organized an Open Essay Writing Competition, with an aim to generate awareness and to promote the nutrition status among the masses.

Competition Guidelines

The Competition will be open to all. The participants in can express their ideas on any one of the following topics:

  1. Eating Right- Make my plate;
  2. Men in action for improved nutrition among women;
  3. Building a Sisterhood of Success: Empowering Women for Improved Nutrition;
  4. Breaking the Intergenerational Cycle of Under-nutrition.

Word Limit

The essay should be within 1000* word limit.

*The essay should not exceed the given word limit else it would lead to disqualification.

Important Dates

Start Date : 09th September, 2021

Last Date of Submission : 30th September, 2021

Prize

Prize for the top entries is as follows:

Top 5 (five) regional entries (North, East, West, South and Central) to receive a Certificate + Rs. 5,000/- reward each from National Commission for Women.

Terms and Conditions

  1. The competition is open for all.
  2. All entries must be submitted on www.mygov.in. Entries submitted through any other medium/mode would not be considered for evaluation.
  3. A participant can send only one entry. In case it is found that any participant has submitted more than one entry, all the entries will be considered as invalid for the said participant.
  4. The entry should be original. Copied entries will not be considered under the contest.
  5. The participant must be the same person who has written the write-up and plagiarism would not be accepted.
  6. Please note that the Essay must be original and should not violate any provision of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957. Anyone found infringing on others’ copyright would be disqualified from the competition.
  7. Government of India does not bear any responsibility for copyright violations or infringements of intellectual property carried out by the participants.
  8. Mention of the author’s name/emails, etc. anywhere in the body of the essay will lead to disqualification.
  9. Participants are to make sure that their MyGov Profile is accurate and updated since National Commission for Women would be using this for further communication.
  10. Participants are required to fill and share the Participant Form which includes details such as name, complete postal address, email ID, phone number (mobile) etc.
  11. National Commission for Women reserves the right to cancel or amend all or any part of the Competition and/ or the Terms & Conditions/Technical Parameters/ Evaluation Criteria.
  12. Any dispute or any issue related to this competition would be decided by National Commission for Women, which will be final and binding.
  13. No requests relating to claims of re-evaluation of the entries will be considered.
  14. The decision of the committee will be final and binding to all the entries.
  15. At any stage of evaluation, if an entry is found to violate the guidelines, the entry will be removed from evaluation process without giving any intimation.
  16. The essay can be submitted in English or Hindi.