Angul district is leading the way when it comes to fighting malnutrition in the State of Odisha. Starting with the highest level of the Government to the level of the community – everyone has been involved in activities related to good nutrition. As such, Angul is increasingly being seen as a champion of nutrition.
The district administration is taking necessary steps to include marginalised groups like tribals in its success story on nutrition. District Collector of Angul Manoj Kumar Mohanty said that self-help groups (SHGs) in tribal dominated areas like Pallahara are taking steps to ensure that every child aged between 3 – 6 years is getting their Hot Cooked Meal (HCM) under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) of the Integrated Child Services Programme (ICDS).
“In some areas which are inaccessible and tribal dominated like Pallahara, where AWCs (Anganwadi Centres) are far away from these habitats, SHGs are engaged to provide HCM,” Mohanty said .
The ICDS is one of the world’s largest programmesfor early childhood care and development and aims to break the vicious cycle of under-nutrition in India. The programme aims to not only improve the nutritional status of children in the age group of 0-6 years but also enhance the mother’s health needs through proper nutrition. An AWC is the nodal point for providing these services to the children and the mothers.
Talking about the importance of building more AWCs so that these schemes reach the last person in the district, Collector Mohanty said that he has sent a proposal to the Government for more AWCs in some inaccessible areas of the district. Moreover, the district administration is regularly monitoring the implementation of various programmes related to malnutrition as well as the functioning of the AWCs at various level,” he added.
Not just the district administration, but community groups also held various events to mark Poshan Maah and highlight the importance of eggs in nutrition.
In a unique competition in six villages to highlight the crucial role of eggs in nutrition, children and mothers who are beneficiaries of SNP under ICDS took part in an egg relay competition in six villages including Purunakote, Barasahi, Baliposi, Kunjam, Karadapal and Saida of Angul district from September 6 to 8.
Sarpanch and frontline health workers including Anganwadi workers (AWW) and ASHAs were also present at the event to stress the relevance of eggs to fight under-nutrition. The community came together to acknowledge Odisha’s initiative to provide this benefit under the ICDS. The competition was not only meant to highlight the importance of egg as a super food to fight malnutrition, but also the significance of the intended beneficiary consuming it.
Odisha is one of the few States to provide eggs to combat under-nutrition along with States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Bihar, Tripura and West Bengal. The govern6ment provides five eggs a week for children aged 3-6 years in Anganwadi centres and three eggs a week each to pregnant mothers, lactating mothers and children aged between 6 months and 3 years as Take-home Ration under SNP.
Consumption of eggs not only leads to better nutrition for children but also helps in producing nutrient-rich breast milk for mothers. Eggs are one of the most easily digestible forms of protein and there is a need to ensure that the eggs provided by the Government of Odisha are consumed by the mother and child.
There was a community member who was dressed up as an egg at the event, spread the message that there is a need to demand 12 eggs from the AWC and also to ensure that children are provided with five eggs every week in the hot cooked meal.
The Angul Pusti Adhikar Abhiyan (APAA), a people’s movement against malnutrition in Angul district, has been working towards demand generation so that the beneficiaries receive the entitled number of eggs under the supplementary nutrition programme and that the intended consume the eggs.
“Even though the AWC provides 12 eggs for the mother’s consumption, the whole household ends up eating those eggs. Through awareness programmes like these, we want to ensure that the community understands the importance of mother and child consuming those eggs,” said convenor of APAA Bidyut Mohanty
Corporates present in the district including JSPL have also been taking steps to fight malnutrition in the district. JSPL executive VP and Group Head CSR and Education Prashant Hota said the company is committed to addressing malnourishment of 1,044 children aged between 3-6 years of Pallahara block in partnership with the district administration. “We have built institutional mechanism so that identified children living in dissipated hamlets get hot cooked food every day. The cooking material are provided by the Government and the cooking support and other enablers are provided by the JSPL Foundation under project Sneh to ensure that the identified children are fed hot
nutritious food every day,” he added.
While Angul performs better than the State average in nutrition indicators, under-nutrition is still a concern in the district. 31.8 per cent of children under-5 are stunted, 21.6 per cent children under-5 are wasted and 35.3 per cent children under-5 are under-weight. Angul is increasingly being seen as an upholder of nutrition rights and can emerge as a trailblazer in the State if it keeps taking steps like these.