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Nodal officer to coordinate tribal, child welfare activities in Melghat by Meena Menon
Issues related to transportation of food grains persist in the 293 PDS outlets

The Bombay High Court has directed the Maharashtra government to appoint a nodal officer by May 31 in the Melghat region to coordinate the work of nine departments which, apart from the public distribution system (PDS), are engaged in tribal development and child welfare.

This post, meant for an IAS officer, had been lying vacant for more than two years. The order was passed after the petitioner, Purnima Upadhyay, submitted that while on the one hand the Tribal Development Department was flush with funds to deal with malnutrition in the area, there was no officer holding the post of Tribal Development Officer cum Additional Collector.

The court order, dated May 4, observed that in the month of April, 2011, 33 children died in Melghat, an area which comprises the Dharni and Chikhaldhara talukas in Amravati district. Official figures show that an average of 400 to 500 children below the age of six die every year in this area.

Dual role

The government, the court said, could not wriggle out of its responsibilities by allowing the post of nodal officer to remain vacant. It has directed that this officer would be the nodal officer for implementing the schemes under the PDS as well as the schemes of the Public Health Department, the Women and Child Development Department, the Tribal Development Department, the Education and Employment Department and the Food and Civil Supplies Department. Since there were as many as nine departments involved, it was absolutely necessary that there be proper coordination. The court said the nodal officer should remain present for hearings.

It directed the nodal officer to convene a meeting of all the officers — of the Amravati district and the Melghat region — who were connected with the nine departments to discuss the ways and means for the effective implementation of various welfare schemes for the malnourished children in the area and submit a report to the court by July 15, 2011.

Hot cooked meals

It also ordered the administration to provide hot cooked meals from June 1, 2011, instead of the dry rations being presently provided.

The Supreme Court had, in a November 2001 order, directed State governments to implement the mid-day meal scheme by providing children with a prepared meal. It had also ordered those governments providing dry rations to start giving cooked meals within three to six months of the order.

The State government was at present providing food packets containing wheat, soyabean, pulses and edible oil, in the form of take-home rations. Prior to supplying such food packets, the petitioner said, the authorities had made arrangements for hot meals cooked by self-help groups (SHG) — a sytem which had worked well.

Storage issues

Under the present system, one food packet is given for 10 to 15 days, but once opened, it was not possible for the contents to be used at one go, and as a result of storage issues, the food would have to be consumed within a day or two by the whole family.

There was no justification, said the High Court, to deviate from the apex court's direction and that cooked meals must be provided to children aged six months to three years and to pregnant, lactating women, from May 15 this year.

The court has also directed that the PDS shops be given to SHGs and food grains be delivered to the villages. The government should also provide loans to SHGs for running PDS shops. At present in Melghat, there are 325 villages and 293 PDS outlets. The problem consists in reaching the food grains to these places.

Child malnutrition

Another issue pertains to the criteria for ascertaining the severity of malnutrition. Under the World Health Organisation (WHO) protocol, the petitioner told The Hindu on the phone, height was factored into the calculation of severe and moderate malnutrition among children. However, the local administration was only taking into account stunted growth and not applying the weight criteria as the numbers of affected children had increased alarmingly, she said.

It appeared obvious, the court said, that children who had been malnourished since infancy would have stunted height, and therefore, applying the parameter of weight would be disadvantageous vis-a-vis the weight for age criterion.

Therefore, to ensure that children who were severely malnourished or moderately malnourished got appropriate treatment at the Child Development Centre or Child Treatment Centre, the parameter considered should be the weight for their age. The government, said the court, shall apply the criterion of weight for age.