Drèze: Provide eggs for 6 days a week in state schools & anganwadi centres of Jharkhand

RANCHI: Noted economist and social activist Jean Drèze has written a letter to the state finance minister, Rameshwar Oraon, seeking the government’s nod to include eggs in mid-day meals (MDM) in state schools and anganwadi centres for six days a week.
The pupils were provided eggs twice a week.
In his letter, Drèze emphasised that Jharkhand’s children are among the most undernourished in the world. He also highlighted the severely low attendance rates in the government schools of the state.
“The government can address both the problems of malnourishment and low attendance by including eggs in the MDM. We can take lessons from the Odisha government which has provided eggs in MDM, an exemplary move, to improve the health of children and their attendance in schools,” Drèze said.
When asked why the letter was addressed to the finance ministry and not the education or health ministry, Drèze said, “I will go to anyone who is willing to listen to the problem and take accountability to ensure that the issue at hand is resolved.”
The economist added that he plans to meet the finance minister shortly to discuss the issue better.
Earlier in 2019, the BJP government had reduced the number of eggs given to children in MDM from three to two, citing inflation as the reason. The move drew flak from the ‘Right to Food’ campaigners.
Based on the data provided by the National Family Health Survey-4, every second, a child under five years of age in the state is underdeveloped (45%) and underweight (47 per cent), while every third child under five is affected by “wasting” (29%).