To deal with the problem of malnutrition in Haridwar district, the district administration in assistance from the State Government has launched many schemes. But the ground reality is that 41 per cent of the children under the age of five die due to malnutrition in the State, as per the latest census by World Health Organisation. Things are grim in Haridwar district. Over 60 percent of the State's malnutrition-stricken children are from Haridwar district alone.
A lot needs to be done on this issue to save the 'innocence' for the want of nutritious food, admit the district authorities. Anti-malnutrition drives launched by the State Government seem to be an eye-wash with children still dying for the inadequacy of the nutritious food.
The 'Khilti Kaliyan' scheme launched by the State Government last month is yet to take roots in the district. Under this scheme launched by the Chief Minister, the politicians and government personnel, the MlAs and the Gram Pradhans are to adopt two malnutrition-afflicted children.
The stark reality remains that out of 2,50,000 children in the age group of 0-5 years in the district, 2000 are severe acute malnutrition (SAM) children. 10,000, though not falling under severe malnutrition category, are likely to jump to the severe category in no time if proper care is not taken.
In an exclusive talk with The Pioneer, district programme officer in the department of child development, Mohit Chaudhary said, "To curtail the problem of malnutrition in the children, several schemes are being launched to cater to the full life- cycle of a child right from the stage of conception of the mother. The district has 2913 Anganwari centres employing 5,700 workers, 75 supervisors and 3 CDPOs (child development project officers). Mother's committees are being formed in every Anganwari centre. However, despite this, we are unable to curb this problem to the desired extent," he said.
"In villages, lack of education and awareness is spawning malnutrition in the families," reasons an ASHA (accredited social health activist) worker, Asha Sharma. A typical counseling session by an ASHA includes explaining to the villagers how poor diet can complicate a pregnant woman's delivery and affect the baby's health. It also includes informing women of how to make low- cost nutritious supplements at home, importance of iron and calcium tablets in routine diet and government healthcare schemes for mothers and children.
Attributing this vicious cycle of poverty and hunger deepening their tentacles despite the Government-launched welfare projects to lack of awareness and sincerity, the district programme officer says, "lack of information and lack of faith in the government system accounts for the problem. As per my observation, it has nothing to do with religion or caste. The service providers are not taking the villagers on board, resulting in the collapse of the system." The norm is that once a lady conceives in a village the information shall be passed on from the enquiry centre to the ANM by ASHA workers for immunization to be followed by four antenatal check-ups as listed in her medical card.
Notably, as per the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India has halved extreme poverty during the Millennium Development Goals by decreasing it from 49.4 in 1994 to 24.7 per cent in 2011. But the country's performance in eradicating hunger has remained slow and it is even slower in Uttarakhand with Haridwar bearing the maximum brunt of things.