Malnutrition in Varanasi dips 12.5% in three years

Varanasi: The collective efforts of the government and corporate houses in the field of nutrition have started yielding results in Varanasi. The district has witnessed a significant reduction in the malnutrition rate, which has come down from a high of 13.7% in 2020 to 1.2% in 2023. During her visit to the city, Governor Anandiben Patel on Thursday praised the work being done for the nutrition programme in the district.
Giving a digital presentation of the programmes like Anganwadi rejuvenation and nutrition for children before the Governor, chief development officer Himanshu Nagpal said that 250 Anganwadi centers are being rejuvenated by the Vedanta Group, and nutrition kits are being delivered to the homes of the children. Special efforts are being made to make babies weighing less than 2.5 kg healthy. He informed that at present there are 12 Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs) in the district, which are curing 100 malnourished children every month. In the past, these centres used to treat only 10 children a month.
A presentation of the Abhinav programme and the work done in the nutrition sector was made on the occasion. According to the officials, 34 new Anganwadi centres were constructed by Vedanta Group from the corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund in the district and the work of renovation of 50 centres is in progress. Till now, one centre was completed by the Reliance Foundation while the construction work of 49 centres is in progress.
Under the rejuvenation of Anganwadi centers, 469 government buildings have been rejuvenated by Vedanta Foundation and the work of rejuvenation of 150 government buildings is in progress. Along with this, the work of rejuvenation of 500 rental buildings is also in progress. The rejuvenation of 24 government buildings was done by Reliance Foundation and the work of rejuvenation on 26 buildings is in progress.
The Millet Nutri Bar program sponsored by the Vedanta Group was launched on March 23 this year. Presently, 50,690 children of 3 to 6 years of Sewapuri, Araziline and Kashi Vidyapeeth blocks are getting benefit of this programme. Besides the improvement in their nutritional level, attendance at Anganwadi centers is also increasing.
Under the establishment of Maternal and Newborn Care Unit (MNCU), 12 MNCUs have been established at the district Women’s Hospital and Community Health Centres in the district for special medical care of newborns and pregnant women. Under the establishment of Mini NRC, a 10-bed Nutrition Rehabilitation Center has been established at the district level for the health improvement of severely malnourished children.
A program for children suffering from anaemia will be started in primary and upper primary schools from July. Under this program, as a pilot project, a baseline survey of anaemia will be done by haemoglobin test, measuring length and weight of students of two schools for better nutrition. On the advice of expert doctors, a dose of Albendazole and iron will be given to anaemic children. And prescribed dosage of multivitamin will be given for one month. On the basis of the result obtained after one month, it is distributed to other schools of the district.
The Governor distributed kits to 150 Anganwadi workers and laptops to 56 children under Mukhyamantri Bal Seva Yojana. Besides tablets were also distributed to 16 children under the Educate India program run by Feeding India.
District magistrate S Rajalingam assured the Governor that whatever schemes are being run for children and women through Anganwadi centers, will be materialized on a priority so that its benefits go to expectant mothers and children.