BHUBANESWAR: Considering the rice in prices, the state government has decided to increase the material cost of eggs for anganwadi centres from Rs 5 to Rs 7 per piece, deputy chief minister Pravati Parida said on Sunday.
Parida, who is also the Women and Child Development minister, said the move is directed towards ensuring health and well-being of all anganwadi beneficiaries comprising children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and nursing mothers. Expressing gratitude to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi for supporting the initiative, she said the state government will incur an additional expenditure of nearly Rs 175.14 crore annually.
According to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Odisha has enrolled 2.05 lakh children in the age group of 0 to 6 months, 14.41 lakh children in 6 months to 3 years age group and 18.08 lakh children in 3 to 6 years age bracket under POSHAN 2.0 (till December 2024). There are 2.68 lakh pregnant women, 2.15 nursing mothers and 2.62 adolescent girls benefitting from the programme.
Under supplementary nutrition programme, normal and severely malnourished children are provided hot cooked food with eggs five times in a week. The take home ration for malnourished children includes 12 eggs, 1.5 kg dry ration and 2.45 kg of chhatua per month. Similarly, nursing mothers and pregnant women are provided a dozen eggs each per month and it is 16 eggs per month for an adolescent girl, along with dry ration.
Anganwadi workers had been struggling to provide eggs to the beneficiaries as they cost Rs 7 to Rs 7.50 per piece. The workers had recently submitted a memorandum to the state government in this regard.