Madhya Pradesh clueless as children die of malnutrition

**prabha.hl** · 08-02-2009, 11:39 PM

as reported in the following link
The Hindu : Front Page : Madhya Pradesh clueless as children die of malnutrition

Date:01/08/2009 URL: The Hindu : Front Page : Madhya Pradesh clueless as children die of malnutrition Back
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Madhya Pradesh clueless as children die of malnutrition
Mahim Pratap Singh Over 450 deaths in four districts since May 2008, say NGOs — PHOTO: A.M. FARUQUI

SHOCKING REVELATION: Malnourished children from Korku tribe of Khandwa district in Madhya Pradesh. Bhopal: The State government’s efforts to address malnutrition among children appear half-hearted, as severe malnutrition has claimed the lives of over 450 children under six, in at least four districts of Madhya Pradesh since May 2008, according to figures provided by various NGOs.

According to National Family Health Survey-III, malnutrition in the State has increased from 54% to 60%, making MP children the most undernourished in India. Madhya Pradesh also tops the list of States in infant mortality rate (IMR), with 72 deaths per 1,000 live births, according to the Sample Registration Survey 2007-08.

The Women and Child Development Department, however, has no clue about these deaths as it does not record or maintain data about malnutrition deaths.

“We filed an RTI with the department to get the official figure for malnutrition deaths, but the department has replied saying it does not maintain any such data,” said Prashant Dubey, a Bhopal-based activist.

Complaints about food

Moreover, complaints regarding the food served under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and the mid-day meal schemes have become more and more frequent, raising doubts over the State government’s seriousness in addressing malnourishment and infant mortality.

After dead frogs and rats found in food served, another incident of a similar nature came to light when students of a government-run girls’ school in Gwalior discovered dead insects in their meals.
While the earlier incidents questioned the implementation of the ICDS — carried out by the Women and Child Development Department —, the new incident raises doubts over the seriousness of the State Education Department, which implements the mid-day meal scheme.

Doubts were also raised by social activists in the State after the Women and Child Development Department cancelled a MoU signed with the State Bank of Indore, under which funds available under the ICDS were to be transferred directly to anganwadi workers, thereby doing away with contractors and intermediaries.

The MoU, signed in 2007, was cancelled without the department receiving any formal complaints about the system, according to information provided by the department in reply to an RTI application filed by a local social activist.

“We discovered that a lot of anganwadi workers were illiterate and could not manage bank accounts,” said Gulshan Bhambra, Commissioner, Women and Child Development Department. “Therefore, we reverted to the previously existing system,” he said.

Why was the bank account system started at all then? It appears that the repeated incidents of sub-standard food being served under these schemes, are most likely a fallout of the previous, contract-based system, as it was discovered in the case of the Nandi foundation, an NGO supplying food to over 58,000 students in Bhopal’s government-run schools.

However, even after repeated complaints about the food supplied by the foundation, the Nagar Nigam authorities have proposed seeking the extension of its contract, which has just ended, by another five years.

Several other issues plague the anganwadi apparatus. Recent reports of irregularities in the recruitment process of workers led Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan to cancel the entire process and order fresh recruitments.

The anganwadis are local village bodies and are crucial to the implementation of any rural mass-based scheme. A report compiled by Special Commissioners appointed by the Supreme Court — human rights activist Harsh Mandar and Dr. N.C. Saxena — puts the number of anganwadis required in the State at 1,46,000 while the current number stands at 69,738.

Last month, the State government announced 9,000 additional anganwadis to be set up, but even then the number reaches nowhere near the figure recommended by the Supreme Court.

The State government also came under fire from activists after it initiated efforts to “enhance” the nutritional value of the supplementary food provided under the ICDS. Under the new policy, the government decided to provide 20 different kinds of meals including kheer pudi, laddoo and mathri to the children in place of the conventional daliya (porridge).

The new policy has been criticised for sacrificing micronutrient content in the food for oily and high-fat items. Micronutrients are crucial to the physical development of a child under six.

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