Reiterating his commitment to fighting malnutrition, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the Bharatiya Janata Party government was committed to tackle the problem through better co-ordination between different departments of the government.
“District magistrates must chalk out proper strategies to tackle malnutrition in their respective districts and implement it effectively. They must also appoint nodal officers for proper monitoring,” the Chief Minister said in Lucknow on Friday.
He was addressing the district magistrates and officers of ICDS and others departments through video conferencing over preparations for ‘Rashtriya Poshan Maah’ (National Nutrition Month).
The Chief Minister also said that if Anganwadi workers staged protests despite increase in their honorarium, the district magistrates should take stern action against them.
“There was a pending demand of Aanganwadi workers for increase in honorarium that this government has fulfilled. Now, there is no reason for them to protest,” he said.
In February this year, the honorarium of Anganwadi workers was increased by Rs 1,500 per month.
Referring to the importance of Rashtriya Poshan Maah, Yogi Adityanath said, “We have to reach out to every household and every village during this campaign. School Chalo Abhiyan can also be linked to this campaign and children can be associated with the campaign during the process of enrolment.”
The Chief Minister said that cleanliness and potable drinking water was the primary requirement for eradication of malnutrition. He asked all departments to launch awareness campaign on clean drinking water.
Highlighting the harmful effects of water sold in the market, Yogi Adityanath said that consuming water sold in jars in the market was risky as there was no guarantee of quality.
The Chief Minister appealed to the people to consume hand pump water and advised them to boil and cool the water before drinking it in order to stay away from all diseases.
“Campaign for clean drinking water should be held in all the slums and gram panchayats as well,” he said.
Yogi Adityanath said that various schemes could help in achieving the target of overall health for citizens.
“Basic Shiksha Parishad must ensure the appointment of basic education officers in all those districts where these posts are lying vacant,” he said.
Mentioning Anganwadi workers, Yogi Adityanath said, “Accountability should be fixed. There are several organisations that keep a watch on CDPOs (child development project officers) and Anganwadi workers and they must supervise them continuously.”
The Chief Minister also asked officers at district level, BDOs (block development officers) and other staff to conduct field visits in order to achieve the target of nutrition month.
“Nodal officers and ministers concerned must review ongoing events from time to time. They must inspect such Anganwadis or locality where the campaign needs to be promoted,” he said.
Minister of State for Women and Child Welfare Swati Singh, Chief Secretary Anup Chandra Pandey, principal secretaries of Secondary Education and Health departments and other officers were present on the occasion.
