PUNE: The Zilla parishad, in its recent internal survey, identified 253 ‘extremely’ and 1,603 ‘moderately’ malnourished children in the 0-6 years age group in the district.
The survey, which was conducted in the last two months, covered 3.5 lakh children across 1,400 villages. The survey revealed that a combination of factors such as child marriages, irregular health check-ups or inadequate facilities for the same and low hemoglobin levels among pregnant women, besides lack of awareness, contributed to the cases of ‘extreme’ and ‘moderate’ malnourishment among the 0-6 years age group children in villages across the Pune district.
JB Girase, the ZP’s deputy CEO and head of the women and child welfare department, said, “We have asked the gram panchayats concerned to provide a special diet to the identified women and their children. The government is also providing diet kits to improve their health. Community health officers and anganwadi workers are regularly monitoring the health condition of these children.”
On Saturday, Ayush Prasad, the ZP’s CEO, held a special meeting at the Aundh district hospital to decide on a strategy to find apt measures on the ground to address the issue. Prasad said, “We will conduct tehsil-wise special health camps across the district. A comprehensive plan is being formulated and it will be implemented effectively.”
Experts and pediatricians said it was a bigger social issue and needed to be dealt with in a sensitive manner. Dr Sharad Agarkhedkar, head of the pediatric department of the Dr. DY Patil medical college, said, “The malnourished kids are usually from the low-income group families. They can’t afford apt nutrients-based diets. They will have the diets at hospitals, but once they return to their native places, they do not follow it due to their financial conditions.”
Agarkhedkar, who has worked in this subject in Mulshi and slum pockets of Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, for the last decade, said, “Asha workers and anganwadi workers have been doing sincere work. But, they sometimes go on strike due to various reasons. In the process, the programme gets hampered. The authorities need to consider this aspect also in their strategy.”
Jyotikumar Kulkarni, secretary of the NGO Niramay, which is working for malnourished children in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad civic limits, said, “ To create awareness among anganwadi workers, we are going to conduct a special training session for 1,400 workers in the coming days.”
