Govt to restart child centres to fight malnutrition

MUMBAI: After a delay of 15 months, the Maharashtra gov ernment has finally decided to restart defunct village child development centres (VCDC scheme in tribal areas.

The move aims to curb soar ing infant deaths due to malnu trition, especially in Palghar dis trict which is close to Mumbai The district had registered 245 deaths till August this year. A survey found 6,034 children mal nourished in the district.

The women and child devel opment department led by Pan kaja Munde will resume the VCDC scheme in two phases The first phase, which will be operational within a couple o days, will focus on tribal areas while the second leg will see the scheme being extended to the other districts in the state.

Vinita Singhal, commis sioner, Integrated Child Devel opment Scheme (ICDS), said “The scheme (the first phase will be functioning in the nex couple of days,” Singhal told HT

The centres provide neces sary medical care to severely acute malnourished (SAM) and moderately acute malnourished (MAM) children at village level The state government made no efforts to revive the scheme after the health ministry decided to completely stop grants for VCDC in August last year, sources said

Singhal said that the second phase of the scheme is likely to be rolled out by the next month.

The cost of the first phase wil be borne by the state tribal devel opment which is estimated to cost Rs20 crore annually.

The Devendra Fadnavis-led government has been criticised by the Bombay high court and the Supreme Court for failing to