All-round development of every child a priority: CM

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday asserted that all-round development of every child in the state was one of the top priorities of his government.

He directed officials to identify children suffering from malnutrition and ensure their early treatment. 

The Chief Minister was speaking at a programme on nutrition mission and a health fair organised at the Convention Centre of King George’s Medical University here on Saturday morning. 

“To fight malnutrition, every citizen of the state has to work specially by contributing in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan,” Yogi said, adding that his government had taken several steps to fight the menace of malnutrition. 

“Only healthy children can contribute in making a health country by becoming capable citizens. To meet the challenge, care has to be taken of women from pregnancy to delivery by providing them the necessary food supplements like fruits and milk etc. Only this can ensure that the child becomes healthy and does not suffer from malnutrition,” the Chief Minister said.

Yogi said that half a dozen departments of the state, including Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), Basic Education, Health, Rural Development, Food and Civil Supplies and Panchayati Raj departments, were contributing to fight malnutrition in women and their children. 

“Having 17 per cent of the total population of the country, the state has more challenges to fight malnutrition but through team work, it can be handled and wiped out. In this direction, Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has started a campaign on nutrition from Rajasthan on March 8 last,” he said. 

The Chief Minister said that to remain healthy, cleanliness was very important and so his government had initiated several steps on Swachh Bharat campaign. 

Yogi said that one person could impact the society through good work and this was what was seen at a primary school in Basti where a head master made necessary modernisation, bringing laurels to the institution, and was selected for national award. 

The Chief Minister said that when he was a Member of Parliament, he was very upset when some people died due to hunger in Kushinagar after failing to get cheap food grains. 

“Hence after becoming the Chief Minister, I ordered verification of ration cards and their linking with Aadhaar cards. This revealed that 30 lakh ration cards in the state were bogus,” he said. 

Yogi said that his government had taken several measures which saved Rs 2,000 crore in distribution of food grains through fair price shops. He also said that his government was organising health fairs at 21,730 centres across the state on the first Wednesday of every month to ensure that every mother and child remained healthy. 

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister congratulated Dr ML Bhatt, Dr Rakesh Kapoor and Dr Deepak Agarwal for being named for the coveted Dr BC Roy National Award.

Yogi said that the nomination of these eminent doctors from the state was a matter of immense pride for Uttar Pradesh. 

“These doctors have set an example by their talent and relentless service for treating ailing people and it will inspire other doctors as well,” he said. 

On Friday, King George’s Medical University, Vice-Chancellor, Prof ML Bhatt, Director of Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Prof Rakesh Kapoor and Dr Deepak Agarwal from Lucknow were named for the prestigious Dr BC Roy National Award by the Medical Council of India (MCI).