The budget proposes to introduce new schemes and extend existing ones to address malnutrition among children and pregnant women. An amount of Rs 4,926 crore has been allocated to the department of Women and Child Development.
Under the ‘Matrupoorna’ scheme, pregnant women and lactating mothers will be provided hot, cooked meals at anganwadis across the state, in 30 districts, at a cost of Rs 302 crore. The scheme will replace earlier measures under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) which provided dry rations to ensure health of pregnant and lactating women.
It is proposed to provide eggs twice a week to all children in anganwadis from June, at a cost of Rs 47 crore, covering a total of about 17 lakh in the state. At present, the department is providing eggs twice a week to SC/ST children across the state. Besides this, existing special provisions will continue under which severely malnourished children get eggs thrice a week, severely malnourished SC/ST children get eggs six times a week and moderately malnourished children in five high-burden districts get eggs three times a week.
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