Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The question asks to identify which option is not a direct, short-term intervention of the POSHAN Abhiyaan. POSHAN Abhiyaan is a nutrition-specific mission that focuses on targeted interventions to improve nutritional status.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Let's analyze the options:
(1) Fortification of essential foods and (4) Control of micronutrient deficiencies are core, direct strategies to combat "hidden hunger" and are central to nutrition-specific interventions.
(2) Production and popularisation of low cost nutritious foods is a strategy to improve dietary diversity and the quality of food consumed, which is also a direct nutritional intervention.
(3) Ensuring food security i.e., improving availability of food: This is a much broader concept. While nutrition security depends on food security, "ensuring food security" at a macro level (e.g., through the Public Distribution System, agricultural policy) is a nutrition-sensitive goal but not a direct, short-term intervention of a targeted mission like POSHAN Abhiyaan. POSHAN focuses more on the utilization of available food and specific nutritional supplements, rather than the overall availability of food grains for the entire population, which is the mandate of other ministries.
Step 3: Final Answer:
Ensuring national food security is a broader, long-term goal and not a direct short-term intervention of the POSHAN Abhiyaan itself, which has more specific targets like stunting and anaemia.