New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Ji on Friday gave a clarion call to eradicate the social ill of malnutrition among the children and take special care of the health of mothers. This is the key to make a healthy Uttar Pradesh which requires participation of every citizen, he said.

The Chief Minister sought to spread this message while reviewing the preparations of ‘National Nutrition Month-2020’ commencing on September 7 and speaking with parents of some of the most malnutritioned children through Video Conferencing.. It may be recalled that September is observed as ‘National Nutrition Month-2020’ and owing to pandemic this year the works under this will be undertaken through digital means.

He said that the ‘nutrition drive’ is an important event inspired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi which is aimed at looking after the well being of children and mothers. He hoped that all the concerned departments will make a concerted effort to take Uttar Pradesh to the top in the country as far as nutrition is concerned taking the opportunity to remind that how the pro-active endeavours helped control the menace of encephalitis in Gorakhpur and surrounding areas.

UP CM review preparations of “National Nutrition Month”

The CM said the departments of health, Panchayati Raj and Education should converge well with the Women and Child Development department to address the problem of malnutrition. He said other departments such as Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Civil Supply, Ayush and Horticulture have also to play an important role in this because these help families to improve their economic status and availability of foodgrains.
The Chief Minister said that no such drive can be successful without public participation. He urged the official machinery to connect people’s representatives, media persons, voluntary organisations and social workers with this drive to make it a public movement. He also asked to integrate Anganwadi workers, Asha, ANMs, Gram Pradhans and Self Help Groups to create an awareness among the people about nutritional value in their children. The Cleanliness workers and ODF workers should also be involved in this drive.

CM Yogi directs officials to set up ‘Nutri Gardens’

On this occasion, the CM directed to set up ‘Nutri Garden’ through which the land of government schools, residential schools, anganwadi centres and gram panchayat should be given preference. Under the concept of ‘Nutri Garden”, apart from community places, every household should be encouraged to grow fruits, vegetables and medicinal plants . The rich heritage of Ayurveda should be followed in its spirit and an awareness campaign should be launched to tell about the qualities of Mint, Turmeric, Bel, Aolna, Neem and Tulsi, he said.

He said that the target is fixed to bring down malnutrition by one per cent in the next six months. He asked to identify SAM children. A one day-drive should be conducted to take measure of height and weight of all the children to fix the baseline to gauge future progress. In addition to this, the health department will do check up of SAM/MAM children . The CM also announced the award to the best performing districts.

The CM directed to monitor the target during 3-6 month and make assessment by March 2021. He further directed the DMs to convene a meeting of the District Nutrition Committee to facilitate the convergence of concerned departments. The CM also announced that he will review the progress of this programme in two months and before that the Chief Secretary will review it in a month. It will be preceded by the weekly review at the district level and later by the Commissioners.

‘Uttam Poshan, Uttar Pradesh Roshan’, CM’s mantra of a healthy state

The Chief Minister, on this occasion, inquired about the condition of the children from the parents who have been benefited with various nutrition schemes from five aspirational districts including Bahraich, Balrampur, Shravasti. He sought to know about the child’s weight, age, growth, benefits provided by the government etc. At the time of the birth of the child and also their present situation. Mothers of the children also thanked the Chief Minister for improvement in their kid’s health. The Chief Minister also suggested parents to follow cattle rearing and asked the district administration to make available cows to the families of the most malnutritioned child . He said that the compost and milk from the cow will be beneficial for their kids.

Interacting with the father of 03-year-old Aryan from Gaisdi, Balrampur, the CM was told that Aryan’s weight was 02 kg when he was born, and now his weight is 12.9 kgs. “We are getting benefited with the continuous availability of nutritious food’, Aryan’s father said. Similarly, 04-year-old Supriya’s mother Mrs. Neelam said that now her daughter’s weight is 13 kg. The mother of 13-month-old baby Chetna told that her daughter is gaining weight because of the continuous availability of nutritious food through various schemes.

Najma’s daughter, who is now 10 months old, was just one kilograms when she was born, but now her weight is 6.100 kg. Akram’s mother said that now his 13-month-old son weighs 8 and a half kilos.