Gujarat has over 1.25 lakh malnourished children, tribal district Narmada tops the list

The Gujarat government on Thursday informed the state legislative assembly that the state has about 1.25 lakh malnourished children across 30 districts. Out of these about 24,000 are under the severely malnourished category. Tribal populated Narmada district topped the list.

Women and child development minister Bhanuben Babariya informed the house in response to questions raised by several Congress MLAs during question hours. According to figures, Narmada district topped the list with 12,492 cases, followed by Vadodara, 11,322, Anand, 9,615, Sabarkantha, 7,270, Surat, 6,967, and Bharuch 5,863.

In response to the question of whether there was an increase or decrease in the number of malnourished children in the last two years, the written reply stated the government was unable to give the answer as Anganwadi centres were closed for the past years (March 15, 2020, to February 2, 2022) due to Covid-19 pandemic. The government said that during the pandemic years, sukhdi, a traditional sweet dish, was distributed every week to the beneficiaries as a measure to end malnutrition.

Besides, the minister said that children in the age group of 3 to 6 years are given hot breakfast and lunch at anganwadis. Further, the written response claimed that fruits are also distributed to children twice a week. It also said that the government provides seven packets of take-home ration "Bal-Shakti" packets for children aged six months to three years. It said that the government also provides double-fortified salt, fortified oil as well as wheat flour to children and their mothers to tackle malnutrition.

Reacting to the government's response, opposition Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia said, "Gujarat is considered to have the highest number of malnourished children in the country. Despite ruling the state for 27 years, the BJP government hasn't taken steps to address the issue." He said that the government should empower the concerned department and create an effective system to resolve this.