Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, July 12 2009:
Helpers and workers of many Anganwadi centres in the State are reportedly in a state of confusion as the State's Social Welfare Department is yet to provide equipment to monitor weight of Anganwadi children.
According to an informed source, the Central Government had instructed State authorities to ensure provision of nutritious food supplements to children admitted/enrolled in Anganwadi centres with strict compliance with World Health Organisation approved growth chart.
As a part of the measure to be adopted by the State, monthly checking of weight of the children is necessary to ascertain veracity of nutritious content/value of the food supplements being supplied to these centres.
It is informed that on August 8 last year, Ministries of Women and Child Development, and Health and Family Welfare specifically communicated to the State Government to adopt the WHO recommended growth chart effective from August 15 of the same year.
The directives from the Central Ministries also clearly stated that Anganwadi centres should conduct monthly weight check of 0-5 years old children enrolled in there and submit detailed report on the weight status to the Social Welfare Department under whom the centres have been established.
Functioning and administration of Anganwadi centres come under the ambit of the Integrated Child Development Scheme, which is the implementing agency of the Social Welfare Department concerning the Central Government sponsored programme.
The Centre's directive clearly mentioned growth monitoring and promotion of children as an important component in establishing veracity of the ICDS initiative, confided the source.
Even though the Social welfare Department procured weighing scales in the 2006-07 financial year during which there were 4501 anganwadi centres, the latest instruction of the Central ministries could not be complied with at the current juncture as there had been exponential increase in the number of anganwadi centres in the State.
Even then workers/helpers in these centres are said to have been literally enduring a state of dilemma as the Social Welfare Department has been insisting that all the projects under the ICDS ensure weight checking of the children by any means at any cost.
It is pertinent to add that in the 2005-06 report of the National Family Health Survey 42.5 percent of the children below 5 years were found to be under-weight with 48 percent of them categorised under stunted growth.