Health Minister urges centre to raise rates of supplementary nutrition
Calls for timely release of funds under Anganwadi Seva Yojana
Health and Social Justice Minister Dr. (Col.) Dhani Ram Shandil today participated in a virtual review meeting chaired by Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annapurna Devi, with Ministers from various states to assess the progress of different schemes of the Ministry.
Dr. (Col.) Dhani Ram Shandil said that keeping in view the importance of proper nutrition during childhood the State Government was working proactively to meet the nutritional needs of the children. He urged the Union Minister to increase the rates of supplementary nutrition being provided by the Central Government to help fulfill the dietary requirements of children.
He informed that under the Anganwadi Seva Yojana the state government has recently received Rs. 66 crore while it has already spent Rs. 113 crore from its own treasury towards the Central share and urged the Union Minister to release the second installment of the funds. He said that under the special nutrition programme, the Central Government has provided Rs. 4013.01 lakh this year out of which Rs. 1516.09 lakh have been spent so far.
He suggested that pre-fabricated structures should be included for the construction of anganwadi buildings in hilly states like Himachal, as such models would be more effective in these regions. He requested the Central government to provide funds for constructing these buildings under the scheme.
The Health Minister said that all anganwadi centres in the state have been declared as anganwadi Seh-school centres to ensure that children receive not only nutritious food but also proper care and early learning. A State-level Joint Committee headed by the Secretary (Education) has been constituted to implement the guidelines issued by the Ministries of Women & Child Development and Education for co-locating Anganwadi Centres with schools.
He appraised that under the ‘Poshan Bhi Padhai Bhi’ programme all the DPOs, CDPOs and Supervisors have been trained as state-level master trainers who would further train all anganwadi workers. He said that the state government was fully committed to ensuring that every child and mother receives adequate nutrition.
The Union Minister assured of all possible support to the state and to sympathetically consider all the genuine demands.
Director of Women and Child Development Department Dr. Pankaj Lalit along with other senior officials of the department also attended the meeting.
