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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | PM nutrition mission by Cithara Paul

PM nutrition mission by Cithara Paul

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published Published on Jan 5, 2011   modified Modified on Jan 5, 2011
The Prime Minister’s Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges has decided to overhaul nutrition programmes in the country after a series of negative international reports about its abysmal nutrition record.

The panel met for the first time recently although it had been constituted in 2008 after the country was placed below Sudan and Zimbabwe in the Global Hunger Index.

The meeting, convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, was attended by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, rural development minister C.P. Joshi, Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia and women and child development minister Krishna Tirath, among others.

A decision to set up a department for nutrition under the women and child development ministry was taken at the meeting.

The council also decided that the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) would be revamped in “mission mode” — time-bound targets would be set and the implementation reported back to the Prime Minister. A special scheme would be formulated for children under the age of two and for pregnant women.

The steps were considered necessary because more than 1.4 million Indian babies die annually before they complete the first year of life, and another 6 lakh children die annually in the next four years of their life, according to the World Health Organization.

The panel has decided to map undernourished endemic zones and high-risk and vulnerable districts apart from launching a special nutrition programme in 200 “high-burden districts”.

The public distribution system, mid-day meal scheme, the National Rural Health Mission and the Total Sanitation Campaign would be used to tackle malnutrition, the council agreed.

“The Prime Minister has always been concerned about the malnutrition levels in the country. He reminded all of us in the meeting that malnutrition should not be a concern of any particular ministry but of all and insisted that a convergence of ideas and action is needed at all levels,’’ said an official who attended the meeting.

In order to achieve universalisation of ICDS, the panel decided there should be an anganwadi centre for 500 to 1,000 people instead of the existing bracket of 500 to 1,500 people, a second anganwadi for a population of 1,000 to 2,000, and another for every additional 1,000 people. In tribal areas, there would be an anganwadi for every 150 to 500 people. A mini-anganwadi centre would be set up for a place with a population of less than 150. Mobile anganwadi centres providing take-home ration and other services to cover thinly scattered habitations in hilly/forest/desert areas would also be started.

Other steps suggested include compulsory monthly weighing of children under the age of three at anganwadi centres; universal registration of births to be ensured; issuing mother and child protection card; and upgradation of anganwadi centres into anganwadis-cum-créches.


The Telegraph, 5 January, 2010, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110105/jsp/nation/story_13394240.jsp


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