Govt holds nutrition event in 5-star hotel, kids in anganwadis go hungry

Vishav Bharti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 8

Even as the state government is holding workshops to celebrate Poshan Maah (nutrition month) in five-star hotels, it has failed to provide food to over five lakh poor children attending anganwadis for the past almost two months now.

Sources claim since mid-July, a large number of anganwadis in the state have not provided food to children. The reports gathered from districts such as Barnala, Ropar and Sangrur confirmed the fact that children are being fed at these centres. The reason is that the Department of Social Security has failed to purchase food in various districts.

There are over five lakh children at 26,656 anganwadi centres. To stop malnutrition among the kids, the anganwadis were launched as part of the Integrated Child Development Services Scheme in 1975-76. Under the scheme, pre-school children between 3 and 6 are provided sweet dalia, kheer, panjiri etc. These items are purchased from government-approved agencies like the FCI, Markfed, Milkfed and SugarFed.

Usha Rani, national president, All-India Federation of Anaganwadi Workers and Helpers, said only poor Dalit children these days go to anganwadis. “These children are starving, but the government is celebrating nutrition month in five-star hotels. It is not a ‘Poshan Maah’ as it is being called, but a luxury ‘parchar maah’,” she alleged.

Last week, the state‘s Department of Social Security, led by minister Aruna Chaudhary, organised a stat-level workshop on ‘Poshan Maah’ in a five-star hotel in Chandigarh. As per National Family Health Survey-4, malnutrition in Punjab has increased and Faridkot district figures among one of the 100 worst-hit districts in the country.