Matrupoorna scheme aims at reducing IMR, MRR: Patil

As many as 54,000 pregnant women and lactating mothers will be benefited by Matrupoorna scheme in Kalaburagi district. The scheme aims to reduce infant mortality rate (IMR), maternal mortality rate (MMR) and also to bring down low birth weight, said District In-charge & Medical Education Minister Sharanprakash Patil.

He was speaking during the launch of the Matrupoorna scheme, at a programme organised jointly by the district administration, Zilla Panchayat and Women & Child Development Department at Dr S M Pandit Ranganandir here, on Monday.

“As part of the scheme with the tag line ‘Healthy Mother Healthy Child’, hot cooked mid-day meal will be provided to pregnant women and lactating mothers every day at Anganwadi Kendras”.

Mr Patil said that by ensuring good health of pregnant and lactating women through nutritious food, the scheme aims to ensure birth of healthy babies and thereby build a healthy society. The ambitious scheme of the government also covers counseling sessions on health and nutrition to pregnant and nursing mothers, follow-up on consuming IFA, calcium and de-worming tablets, vaccination and periodic monitoring of weight of the pregnant women, he added.

Mr Patil said, officers of the Women & Child Development Department and Anganwadi workers were responsible for the implementation of the scheme. Therefore, the officers and workers should ensure nutritious food to the pregnant and lactating women and shouldn’t give any scope for complaints.

Kalaburagi MP Mallikarjun Kharge, who inaugurated the programme, said that the scheme will be implemented through 3,098 Anganwadi kendras in the district. He lamented that women in cities, who are beauty conscious, are not breast feeding their children and instead are providing powdered milk to them. But mother’s milk was vital for the babies and asked women to breast feed their babies. He said, in rural areas babies were very healthy as women breast fed their children four to five times a day.

A brochure of Matrupoorna scheme was released on the occasion. As part of the inauguration of the scheme, ‘Seemanta’ (Baby shower) was organised for pregnant women. This apart, food was served to pregnant and lactating women on the occasion. Zilla Panchayat President Suvarna Malaji, NEKRTC Chairman Ilyas Bagawan, Mayor Sharan Kumar Modi and others were present on the occasion.