Food wrapped in beef packets given in Rajasthan anganwadis
Children and pregnant women at anganwadi centres in eastern Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district were given food supplements in packets that have ‘minced beef ’ written on it. Doctors of a community health centre (CHC) discovered the packets, which are of a British company, on Thursday.
The matter was reported to the district’s women and child department, following which a probe was ordered to find how the beef packets found their way into the anganwadis in villages here. The packets were found in at least 10 centres.
“When we asked the anganwadi worker about it, she feigned ignorance since the packets were printed in English. I have reported the issue to higher officials for further action since this could spark a communal crisis,” said Dr Lalit Vyas, Ayurvedic medical officer at Nagar CHC, who was part of the inspection team.
The women and child development department outsources supply of food supplements to local self-help groups (SHGs).
Deputy director of the department in Bharatpur, Meenakshi Meena said Rita SHG supplied food supplements to the anganwadis where the beefpackets were found.
“I got this information on Thursday noon and immediately rushed to the anganwadi. I even spoke to the SHG, which said it was only today that they supplied ‘poshahar’ in these packets procured from a shopkeeper in Nagar town. We even went to the shop but couldn’t find the owner so we will go to him again on Friday to find out where he got these packets,” she said.
Rita SHG has been supplying supplements to the 10 centres where the suspicious packets were found for the last six months.
Meena noted that the SHGs are actually supposed to use packets which bear their name and weight of its contents.
Banshi Gurjar of Rita SHG said the women of the group had procured the packets from a local shop and that he didn’t know what was wrong with the packets. He, however, assured the packets would not be used anymore.
Anganwadi, meaning courtyard shelter, was started by the Indian government in 1975 as part of the integrated child development services (ICDS) programme to combat child hunger and malnutrition.