BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha chapter of National Right to Food Campaign has demanded the state government to continue the Odisha PVTG Nutrition Improvement Programme (OPNIP), run by the ST and SC Development department.
At a media conference here on Tuesday, they said that the programme was abruptly discontinued by the department last month, which will have a serious impact on the nutrition of PVTG children in 12 districts that were covered under it.
The OPNIP was implemented in 89 gram panchayats of 17 micro project agencies in 12 districts. The three components under it include community-based creche (Sishu Gurha) for children under the age of three years, maternal spot feeding centres and spot feeding centres for children in remote villages. Under this, 61 creches, 161 maternal spot feeding centres and 111 spot feeding centres for children were established in the 12 districts. These centres provided basic daycare facilities to children and hot cooked meals for both children and mothers.
The Right to Food Campaign members said it is unfortunate that this noble initiative has recently been stopped by the government as a result of which, thousands of children belonging to primitive tribes will again face malnutrition. They called upon the government to immediately intervene and resume the programme to protect the rights of tribal children.
Official sources said OPNIP was introduced as a part of the Odisha PVTG Empowerment & Livelihoods Improvement Programme (OPELIP).