State has 17214 malnourished and 1578 severely malnourished children in 2018- 19 as compared to 16305 malnourished and 1153 severely malnourished a year ago
Notwithstanding the tall claims of providing best nutrition at level of Anganwadis and ever increasing budget for it, the data of the Woman Empowerment and Child Development Department (WECDD) clearly shows that the number children under the categories of malnutrition and severe malnutrition are increasing. Udham Singh Nagar district has the dubious distinction of having maximum numbers of children under the category of malnutrition and severe malnutrition in last two years.
As per the Government of India scheme to provide supplementary nutrition for Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) project, the Anganwadi centres are given the nutritious meals in form of take home rations. These meals are supposed to be given to the families having children between the age group of 0-6. This take home ration includes Bengal Gram, Groundnut, Rice, Sweet Potato, Soybean and other nutritious eatables. However the data of the department itself raises a question mark on the efficiency and efficacy of the system of nutritious meals provided by it.
As per the data of 2017-18, a total number of 16305 students were under the category of malnutrition and 1153 students were under the category severe malnutrition in the state. Udham Singh Nagar had the maximum number of malnourished children. It has 6152 malnourished children while 312 children were in the category of severe malnutrition. Similarly, In Haridwar 4635 children were under malnutrition category and 378 were under severe malnutrition category. Nainital was in the third position with 1778 children were under malnutrition category and 81 under severe malnutrition category. Provisional state capital Dehradun had 1595 children were under the category of malnutrition and 130 children were under the category of severe malnutrition.
In the year 2018-19, a total number of 17214 children were under the category of malnutrition and 1578 children were marked under the category of severe malnutrition in the state. Udham Singh Nagar again was in the top with 8286 malnourished and 578 severely malnourished children. In Haridwar, 4634 children were under the category of malnutrition and 541 children were under the category of severe malnutrition. In Nainital, 1554 children were under the category of malnutrition and 71 children were marked with severe malnutrition. In Dehradun, 1155 children were under the category of malnutrition and 123 children were under the category of severe malnutrition respectively.
It is also pertinent to mention that the budget provided for the scheme of providing nutritious meals increased almost by 50 percent this year as compared with the last year.
When contacted by The Pioneer, the director, ICDS, Satish Kumar Singh said, “The figure provided in the data can be said tentative, as newborn children keep on adding and children reaching age six are removed from the list. The numbers keep on fluctuating. Our state has around 20000 children under both malnutrition and severe malnutrition category. We are planning to start a massive campaign so that no child is marked under these categories.”
Thursday, 09 May 2019 | Monisha Bahuguna | Dehradun
