A movement against Malnutrition in Chhattisgarh
Malnutrition is a big socio-economic problem, particularly among children below 5 years of age, who are under nourished. Taking cognizance of this situation, strategic steps against malnourishment in Chhattisgarh state have been taken as top priority, making it a public movement. It also brings to the fore the understanding that the most severe cases of malnourished children are from the regions of the state, where most of the natural resources are being extracted. In these areas, especially in Bastar, women and mothers between the ages of 15-49 are reported to be anaemic with an alarming figure of more than 65%.
Government of Chhattisgarh has initiated many schemes and programs to combat the challenge of malnourishment in children in the state. Bastar and Surguja divisions of Chhattisgarh are the areas which are most affected. Government of Chhattisgarh is providing protein-rich food including eggs and pulses in the tribal areas on a pilot basis. The districts covered under the pilot programme include Bastar, Dantewada, Korba, Surguja, Koriya and few other districts. This scheme is planned to be scaled up to cover the entire state on 02nd October 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
DMF Funds will be managed by a committee headed by a State Cabinet Minister instead of the District Collector. The money will be utilised primarily for health, nutrition, education, training, livelihood, community focused activities. Social audit of the disbursed amount will be mandated. The State is implementing "Universal Health Scheme", where all the touch points in the Health Ecosystem will be improved and quality assured to bring about a holistic change in the delivery of the health services to every citizen. This year 17 Motherbaby hospitals will be set up all over the state. Free health services to expectant mothers will be available across the state. Besides this, many specialized health services like facilities for sickle cell examination, dialysis, pathologies etc will be provided. One of the most important initiatives has been the access to health services across the nook and corner of the state. This became possible with the "CM Haat Bazaar Health Initiative during the weekly Haat which is a special feature across the villages all over the state. Health services are being made available in Haat Bazaar, which happens to be a suitable place to create health awareness amongst masses and also to create touch points for service delivery.
Chhattisgarh Government understands and realizes that implementing the above mentioned activities and working towards the objectives may be a tough task but the constant dialogue between the stakeholders and the implementors will help in finding solutions of the problems on a continuous basis. The Government has in view both short term as well as long term objectives, which will lead to holistic and sustainable solutions to all health issues plaguing the state. One healthy family is capable of making wise choices, and several wise choices lead up to a healthy society. Such a society, we believe, will be able to take the state of Chhattisgarh forward in all matters of development in the decades to come.