Bhubaneswar: After successfully implementing community management of malnutrition programme in Kandhamal and Bolangir districts, the state government decided to extend the programme to remaining districts of the state.
This was decided at a meeting of the State Empowered Committee held under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi here at Secretariat recently.
The programme would be implemented by the health & family welfare department with the support of women & child development department, UNICEF and Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives.
The state is focussing on reduction of infant mortality and maternal mortality ratios through a multipronged model where nutrition finds a prominent mention, Padhi directed the women and child welfare department to strengthen internal monitoring system and ensure cent percent flow of supplementary nutrition to the targeted group.
Director of social welfare department Prasant Kumar Reddy said children with acute malnutrition would be treated with ready to use therapeutic food and energy density therapeutic food through Anganwadi centers. Primarily, around 4300 children have been identified as suffering from acute malnutrition, he said.
Around `808.98 crore was earmarked for supplementary nutrition programme in the annual programme implementation plan of ICDS for 2017-18, he said. The meeting also resolved that creche and day care facilities would be revitalized in the state. The director further said under the programme, each anganwadi worker would be provided with a smart phone and each supervisor would be given a tablet. They would upload the IMS forms through these devices.
Meanwhile, state-level training of trainers was completed while the capacity building training of the frontline workers and ICDS personnel would be conducted shortly. Massive community awareness and mobilisation activities would be undertaken at village and community level. At present, around 136 creche centers function in the state and another 3629 AWC-cum-creche centers are proposed to be set up in the first phase during 2017-18, said women and child welfare department secretary Vishal Dev.
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