Preparation of food packets for kids, mothers starts in March
PRAYAGRAJ: Rural women working for Self Help Groups (SHGs) will start preparing supplementary nutritious food packets from March at specially set up ‘Take Home Ration Production Units’. These packets would then be supplied to anganwadi centers in 18 districts of the state, including Prayagraj, Lucknow and Gorakhpur.
“Land for setting up these plants has already been identified in all 202 development blocks of these 18 districts. Women of SHGs are undergoing training and after which production will formally begin,” said Sujeet Kumar, Mission director, Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission (UPSRLM).
Through this initiative, UPSRLM will involve the women members of SHGs and their federated institutions in the production of Take Home Ration (THR) in UP. The move will also offer substantial income generating possibilities for rural women.
In the first phase, the work of preparing nutrition food packets will kick-start in Fatehpur and Unnao from January itself and for which plants have already been set up in both these districts. Work in rest of the districts would start from March, he added.
As per the plan, these units would become functional by March in 12 development blocks of Mirzapur, Fatehpur and Aligarh, 9 blocks each of Mainpuri, Chandauli and Ambedkar Nagar, 7 of Auriya, 6 of Baghpat, 8 each of Banda, Etawah, Kannauj and Lucknow, 11 of Bijnor, 15 each of Kheri and Unnao, 19 of Gorakhpur, 20 of Prayagraj and 14 locks of Sultanpur district.
According to officials, UPSRLM is setting-up these units to support food distribution under the government’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme that targets children less than 6 years of age and pregnant and lactating women. One of the key objectives of the ICDS is to improve the all-round development (health, nutrition and education) of children below six years. Its aim is to reduce infant mortality, child malnutrition and to provide pre-school education.
Under this scheme, the Anganwadi centres provides hot cooked meals to the children in the age group of 3-6 years and adolescent girls while supplementary nutrition in the form of Take Home Ration (THR) packets are provided to children aged less than 3 years as well as to adolescent girls and nursing mothers. The Department of Women and Child Development, UP had approached the UPSRLM to produce the supplementary nutrition products.