Jajpur: Even as 16 kids have died of malnutrition at hilltop Nagada village in Sukinda valley of Jajpur district, the state government has failed to act tough against misappropriation of funds in supply of nutritious food for pregnant women and kids in remote Chingudipala panchayat.
The agencies entrusted in preparation of sattu, members of self-help groups and child development project officer (CDPO) allegedly connived in misappropriating Rs 40 lakh annually by not supplying the food stocks to remote Nagada, Guhiasala, Tumundi and Naliadaba villages under the panchayat.
According to official records, Sukinda block has 254 Anganwadi centres where there are 14,664 children in the age group of 3 months to 6 years. Similarly, in remote Nagada, Guhiasal, Tumundi and Naliadaba villages there are over 1,000 kids in the same age group.
While Rs 12 is spent daily on preparation of sattu for a kid, Rs 43 lakh sanctioned annually in the scheme is alleged to have been misappropriated as the food items were learnt to have never reached these remote villages.
Similarly, the department claims to be supplying two eggs per week to pregnant women and children and sesame ‘laddu’ to malnourished kids. However, these items have never reached Nagada village.
Observers claimed that the untimely death of the 16 kids within last five months could have been avoided had the scheme for supplying nutritious food to these villages been properly implemented.
However, the state government has failed to act against the errant officials and agencies responsible for the improper implementation of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) in the panchayat. As a result, pregnant women and kids in Nagada village have been deprived of nutritious food in the last five years.
The negligence of the officials and the misappropriation of funds have triggered widespread outrage in the district. Residents have demanded a high-level probe into the irregularities and urged the authorities to initiate criminal proceedings against the district social welfare officer (DSWO), child development project officer (CDPO), the sattu preparing and supplying agencies. The state government started supplying sattu under Take Home Ration scheme from April 2011 after the pulse scam in the state.
However, the scheme has gone completely haywire in the district as over 50,000 rural kids are stated to be affected by malnutrition.
They have not experienced any change in their health even after five years of the implementation of the scheme. These kids are not only deprived of balanced diet but the administration has also failed in ensuring their basic needs like health, education and sanitation. PNN
