India, Jan. 10 -- India has closed the calorie gap in battling malnutrition, yet essential micronutrients like iron, vitamin D, calcium, folic acid, and others remain neglected. The paradox is striking: People may appear well-fed or overweight but suffer from "hidden hunger" - micronutrient malnutrition quietly eroding the health, productivity, and potential of millions. Millions of Indians endure fatigue and ill health from deficiencies of iron, iodine, vitamin A, D, B12, folic acid, and zinc. These gaps weaken immunity, stunt growth, impair cognition, and fuel chronic ailments, sometimes leading to premature disease and death. Studies reveal rampant deficiencies across rural and urban India, affecting over half the population. Causes include poor dietary diversity, poverty, food insecurity, and low awareness. While all ages suffer, young children and women of reproductive age are hit hardest. NFHS-5 data is alarming: 67.1% of children, 59.1% of adolescent girls, 57% of reproductive-age women, and 52.2% of pregnant women are anaemic. Anaemic mothers are more likely to give birth to anaemic children. The high levels of anaemia across the life cycle in India hold back progress on several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - from improving health and education to boosting economic prosperity as it fuels intergenerational malnutrition. Recognising this crisis, the government promotes micronutrient access through supplementation, awareness campaigns, and balanced-diet outreach. The cornerstone is the national food fortification programme, which enriches staples via existing delivery systems. This adds approved vitamin-mineral premixes to foods such as rice, oil, milk, and salt, boosting nutrition with minimal health risks. India's fortification efforts began in the 1950s with vegetable oil fortified with vitamins A and D, followed by salt iodisation in the 1960s - which slashed goitre and cretinism. Food Safety and Standards Authority of India standards in 2016 enabled integration into welfare schemes such as PM-POSHAN (mid-day meals), take-home rations, and hot-cooked meals. Today, rice fortification reaches 800 million via Anaemia Mukt Bharat, the public distribution system, and Mission POSHAN 2.0. Edible oils and milk get vitamins A and D, while iodised salt is widespread. Mandatory vitamin D fortification of milk remains a vital, low-hanging opportunity. Though much ground has been covered, much remains to be done to plug the gaps in supply chain issues and implementation. Initiatives at the central level often do not translate into effective action at the state or district level. Compliance with established fortification standards is often inconsistent while critical leakages occur in the PDS. Private players face additional challenges in the form of high capital costs to set up blending machinery at food mills and a poor distribution system. We must step up efforts to work together with industry, schools, health care providers and communities to scale up fortifications efforts with renewed vigour in 2026. Fortification is cost-effective, leveraging existing habits and systems without demanding dietary shifts or huge budgets. It complements diversification and supplementation to combat hidden hunger. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spotlighted nutrition's link to economic security, alongside issues like antimicrobial resistance and obesity. In 2026, government, industry, schools, health care providers, and communities must unite to accelerate fortification. Health is key to Viksit Bharat@2047. The time to act is now....