nOn the occasion of International Day of World's Indigenous People on Friday Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel announced that a campaign to eradicate malnutrition and anemia will be launched in all the districts of Chhattisgarh.
The campaign will be started on the occasion of Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi's 150th anniversary on October 2.
State Government has set the goal to make Chhattisgarh malnutrition and anemia free within next three years.
Under this campaign, people suffering from malnutrition and anemia will be provided free of cost nutritious food every day.
Chief Minister made this announcement while addressing a state-level programme held in Vikas Nagar Stadium in district headquarters Kondagaon.
This campaign was initiated as pilot project in Bastar region from July, 2019 and it will be soon extended in other aspirational districts of the state.
In this campaign, maximum participation of renowned charitable organisations, public representatives, NGOs, media groups and other competent people of the districts will be ensured, sources said.
Chief Minister also appealed to local representatives and all the sections of the society to actively participate in this campaign.
He pointed out that according to the latest data released by NITI Aayog, 37.60% children below 5 years in Chhattisgarh are suffering from malnutrition and 41.50% women in the state are suffering from anemia.
“Every year lakhs of children die because of malnutrition and anemia, lakhs of children are born underweight, they suffer from growth issues, their mental and physical development is adversely affected, and difficulties become part of their lives right from the time of birth. Some serious strategic measures are required to redress this problem,” Baghel said.
The campaign to make Chhattisgarh free of malnutrition and anemia was started as pilot project in Korba, Sarguja, Koriya and selected panchayats of other districts in Bastar region. Under the project free nutritious food was provided to all the people suffering from anemia and malnutrition.
In the campaign to be launched on Gandhi Jayanti, free nutritious meals will be provided every day to the patients of malnutrition and anemia, as per the list issued by each of the gram panchayat, customized as per their physical requirement and preferences.
Funds for implementation of this programme will be sanctioned every month from DMF, CSR funds, and basic funds of respective panchayats or by respective development authorities. Each of the gram panchayat will maintain daily record of people being benefitted under the programme.
While addressing the programme, Chief Minister also announced a hike in scholarship for students of pre-matric hostels from Rs 700 to Rs 1000 and a significant increase in number of seats in the colleges, official sources said.
Chief Minister said that decision regarding the 'manjhi' and 'chaalki', whose name got skipped from enlistment, will be taken in the cabinet meeting.
Industry Minister Kawasi Lakhma, Food Minister Amarjeet Bhagat, Bastar MP Deepak Baij, Kondagaon MLA Mohan Markam along with other MLAs and public representatives were also present in the programme.