Former Union Minister and Chief Whip of Congress party in lok Sabha Jyotiraditya Scindia visited the malnutrition affected areas of the Karahal and Vijaypur blocks in Sheopur district of the State.
While talking to the mediapersons on Sunday, Scindia said, “The condition I have seen here is unfortunate, I do not have words to express my feelings. These incidents are shameful for us. MP Government claims that crore of rupees have been spent for the eradication of malnutrition. So where is the money going, this issue should be investigated.”
Scindia expressed his grief to the parents of the 18 children, who died due to malnutrition. He also visited village Nandpura, Sheopur District Hospital and Vijaypur nutrition center and hospital.
Scindia told that he had also written a letter to the Central Women and Child Development Minister and Chief Minister regarding the issue.
Scindia stated that the Government is planning to bring White Paper on the malnutrition issue. But Congress demands that action should be taken against the responsible people. The State Health Minister Rustam Singh has accepted that malnutrition was the reason behind the death of children in Sheopur.
The Government should put its efforts to eradicate this problem instead of doing paper work. Many children had died in the year 2006 due to malnutrition and now 18 children of the Golipura village died due to the same problem. This incident is disheartening, he added.
Scindia further said that more than 1,000 children are still sick and around 300
children have been admitted to the hospital. Same condition is prevailed in the Morena district.
Scindia added that Women and Child Development Department Chief Secretary had tried to suppress the issue instead of eradicating it. The Government should instruct the officials of the women and child development Department to eradicate malnutrition from the State.