Guj Govt seeks Rs 450 Cr to fight malnourishment
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- Current News
- Thursday, 06 September 2012 17:02
- Published on Thursday, 06 September 2012 17:02
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Gujarat Global News Network, New Delhi
Close on the heels of controversy surrounding Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s comments about malnutrition in Gujarat, the state government has asked the Government of India to provide Rs 450 crore as "help" to fight malnutrition.
In an interview to an international publication recently, Modi has attributed the alarming malnutrition figures in Gujarat to vegetarianism and middle class girls averse to consuming milk. Gujarat has seen poor nutrition levels in 132 talukas, mainly belonging to Saurashtra, Kutch and North Gujarat, where the government believes a drought-like situation prevails, despite recent rains.
Senior officials of the Gujarat government disclosed that, "The demand was made last week by Gujarat chief secretary A K Jyoti before the Central team which had come to Gujarat for an on-the-spot assessment. The demand was not part of the original drought memorandum submitted to the Centre. It was worked out after Modi instructed officials to look into the nutrition issue of the vulnerable sections of population in Saurashtra's seven districts, Kutch and Patan, where the situation was particularly grim."
Officials told the Central team that they wanted the GoI to address four main concerns - poor nutrition levels of three lakh pregnant and young lactating women, around 12 lakh equally vulnerable children aged six months to six years, another 12 lakh primary school-going children, and about 60,000 children who have been rendered "out of school" because poor parents must work a livelihood under employment guarantee schemes in the absence of viable employment in areas where crops have failed.
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