A workshop to prepare a ‘Nutrition Manifesto’ in the context of the panchayat elections was held at Khariar on Saturday. The programme was organised by social action forum Collective Action for Nutrition working for nutritional development of children and mothers in the KBK districts.
“Role of panchayat representatives in effective implementation of Government programmes is important. They need to work in such a manner that no one would suffer from malnutrition. The objective of this workshop is to prepare a manifesto and place that before the candidates contesting for the current panchayat elections and impress them to commit for nutritional development of children and women,” explained social audit expert Samit Panda.
The participants in the workshop were members of different NGOs, social activists and panchayat representatives. They spoke about the nutritional problems among children and women in their areas and expressed their willingness to participate in a process that would strengthen the implementation of nutrition schemes.
Dr Fanindam Deo, as chief speaker, said changes have occurred in the area if one compare between the situations of the 1980s and the present. “Indicators of nutrition in the context of MMR and IMR have improved, but a lot of more interventions are needed,” he said.
The organisers revealed that they have conducted such workshops in other KBK districts and have received good responses from the participants. “A combined manifesto will be released on January 25 which will be followed by panchayat-level workshops in all KBK districts,” they said.
Other speakers included artist Jitendra Nath Pattnaik, journalist Tapan Ranjan Dash and Sambhu Sahu, Tarabali Sabar and Kunal Behera.