A Central team recently visited Surguja district to survey the work being done by the Phulwari Centres in the district. The Phulwari Centers running in Surguja district are taking care of the nutritional needs of pregnant, mother of infants and children from 0 to 6 years.
Mothers make food as per the pre-decided menu for the day and distribute it among themselves and their children in the district. District Collector Ritu Sen then explained the Phulwari Scheme to the Central team and pointed out the reasons as to why Phulwari Centers should not be merged withAanganwaadi Centers.
Meanwhile, officials in Raipur informed that it is the first scheme of its kind in the nation that Phulwari centres have been opened with the help of Gram Panchayats and Mitanins of Health Department in Chhattisgarh. In these centres, children are served nutritious meals three times a day. No government employee or worker has been appointed in these centres.
Instead, mothers of the children enrolled in Phulwari themselves attend the children and serve meal to them turn by turn. Provision has been made to enroll minimum 5 children and maximum 20 children in every Phulwari Centre.
‘Phulwari Centres’ have already been started in 85 tribal populated development blocks of Chhattisgarh.
The scheme has been formulated particularly to save children below 3 years of age from malnutrition and to improve their health.
Panchayat and Rural Development Department officials had informed that the most important feature of this scheme is public participation, especially participation of mothers of such children.
Within one-and-a-half years of his announcement, Panchayat and Rural Development Department has started opening Phulwari Centres in the development blocks concerned in a schematic manner.
This scheme of the State government is being recognized at a national level. The Central government’s Centre for Innovation in Public Systems in Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) presented this scheme as the Best Innovative Activity in India, at its Foundation Day Function organized on May 14, 2014.
In this function, Chhattisgarh Government’s Panchayat Department was also invited. According to the officials, this scheme was started in Surguja district two years back in August, 2012 on an experimental basis.
After the commencement of the scheme, experts from Pandit Jawahar lal Nehru Allopathic Medical College conducted a study in association with UNICEF, and findings of this study have shown commendable success of this scheme.
Within one year of enrolling at Phulwari Centres, the children underwent a decline in their malnutrition level from 45 per cent to 30 per cent and their health conditions have also improved.
Significantly, in November last year, the European Union also endorsed the claims of the Chhattisgarh government regarding steep decline in the infant and maternal mortality rate in the State.
A representative of the European Union said the infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate had come down drastically in the State due the efforts made in the health and family welfare sectors in the 15th meeting of the Programme Steering Committee chaired by Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand officials stated.
The Chief Secretary had reviewed the schemes jointly operated by the European Union and the State Government in Chhattisgarh during the meeting.