In a bid to cope up with malnutrition affecting the children, the State Government has decided to open day care centres across the State to be run on the public-private partnership (PPP) mode, informed Principal Secretary women empowerment and child development Radha Raturi while inaugurating such a day care centre, the first of the series, in Deepnagar in Dehradun on Friday.
“The State Government is already running Khilti Kaliya prgramme (blooming bud programme) to help the malnutrition-stricken children,” she said during her interaction with the women and children who had come to the Aaganwadi centre where the inauguration programme was held.
Raturi has taken the responsibility of a child Neerja, an inmate of Shishu Niketan.
She further said that under Khilti Kaliya programme, the State Government has been providing nutritious ration to the children down with malnutrition. “This is proving helpful in improving the health of such children. Now, we are going to begin day care centre under PPP mode. Under this pilot project, we are going to open day care centre in five places - Rispana, Bindal, Song river, Doiwala and Rishikesh- across Dehradun district in the first phase. These centres will be run from the Aaganwadi centres where such children will be provided with nutritious diet till they turn three years in age. The identified children will be provided fruits, vegetables, pulses, egg, milk and the like. Once we receive satisfactory reports from these centres we would expand the scheme in other districts of the State. For this, the child development department has been instructed to make physical inspection in these centres. Here nutritious diet and clean water will be provided and doctors will visit on regular basis,” she said.
She asked all concerned to ensure cleanliness in the Aaganwadi centres and also to ensure that doctors visit them on the fifth day of every month. She also checked the stock of Daliya procured for the children. She also said that self- employment programme will also be started so that the girls and the women can learn skill to become self- employed.
Additional Secretary women empowerment and child development VImmi Sachdeva also inspected the Aaganwadi centre and reviewed the existing infrastructure. Thereafter, she instructed the officials concerned to install RO water purifier so that children would get clean water.
Currently, 16 children, including 14 critically malnourished, are registered at the centre.