Kendrapara: A surge in COVID-19 cases is likely to hasten malnutrition among children and expectant mothers in Kendrapara district. This is because availability of nutritious food to the beneficiaries has been severely hit due to restrictions on travel and weekend shutdowns imposed in the district, a report said.
The Odisha government also announced Sunday a 14-day lockdown across the state beginning May 5 and ending May 19. This, many feel will also affect availability of nutritious food like sattu and medicines to the children and pregnant women.
The administration has imposed weekend shutdown in Kendrapara district and directed closure of all business establishment from 2.00 pm till 7.00am of the next day.
Observers claimed that all these restrictions are likely to affect the health of pregnant women and children suffering from malnutrition. They added that the rise in prices of essentials will also affect the supply of nutritious food to the beneficiaries.
According to reports available from the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) department Kendrapara district has 2,147 Anganwadi centres.
These centres supply nutritious food to 9,952 pregnant women under the supplementary nutrition programme. Moreover, 10,367 pregnant women, 56,562 children in six months-three years age group and 52,738 children in the three-six years age group also receive nutritious food.
This apart, the Anganwadi officials trace the expectant mothers and children suffering from malnutrition and enlist their names under the programme.
Reports said that health condition of 2,154 children out of 1,09,337 children in the district are satisfactory while 2,529 were suffering from malnutrition. Among them, 2,275 children were underweight which is indeed alarming. The report said that 293 children have to beg for food.
Ramani Ranjan Routray, an office-bearer of Zilla Anganwadi Workers and Cooks Association and guardians Abhimanyu Samal and Sukhadananda Tripathy of Derabish, Kalpataru Routray and Milan Kumar Dhal of Pattamundai, Dhaneswar Bhuyan of Rajnagar said that the Anganwadi centres were reopened after a restrictions were eased after the first wave of the pandemic. The children and pregnant women were given nutritious food and the Anganwadi centres undertook various programmes.
However, these centres closed down again after the second wave started wreaking havoc. Many guardians are refusing to send their children to the centres. Also some workers are afraid to visit the centres. As a result, the door to door survey of the children and pregnant women has been severely hit, the report said.
Many migrant workers have returned home and are finding it difficult to provide food to their children due to funds crunch. Prices of essentials have also gone up compounding the woes of the malnourished. It is apprehended that the number of malnutrition-hit children will increase in coming days as the government is yet to make an assessment of the exact spread of the pandemic.
When contacted, ICDS officer Chinmayee Rath said the Anganwadi workers are working despite closure of the centres. The workers are visiting the homes of children suffering from malnutrition and pregnant women and providing them with food. The workers were also visiting the returnees from other states to help out their children and are providing them with food and medicines.
PNN
