Senior Congress parliamentarian Jyotiraditya Scindia on Thursday called on Union Minister for Woman and Child Development Maneka Gandhi and urged her to order independent and impartial enquiry into the malnutrition deaths in the State.
Union Minister Maneka Gandhi quickly responded and immediately ordered the enquiry as demanded by Scindia also the chief whip of the Congress party in lok Sabha. The enquiry panel set up the union minister has been told to submit its report over malnutrition in the state by Monday and also called a meeting of her ministry in this regard on the same day.
Scindia told Gandhi that condition is grim in the State and that 19 malnutrition deaths have taken place only in Sheopur district. The union minister seriously listen him and expressed concern over the prevailing situation in the state and immediately ordered a central enquiry team with instructions to it to for submitting its report on Monday September 26 and also called a meeting of her ministry in this regard on the same day.
Scindia informed the union minister that the surveys conducted by different agencies of the central government in 106 villages of the district in just five days found 461 malnourished children of them 145 children are severely malnourished. And according to media reports 62 children of 16 villages have died due to malnutrition in past one month only. The state government has also admitted in the state assembly that of the total 80,918 children in Sheopur district 19, 724 children are malnourished. It is unfortunate that the state government is overlooking the situation that is becoming bad to worse, he added.
He said where are funds, running in crore of rupees, being spent to improve the health of malnourished kids goingIJ The central government should conduct an inquiry into it.