NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath on Wednesday said her Ministry on priority basis would address the malnutrition issue first. The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme was being restructured and the ministry was working out specific action plan to reduce the malnourishment level in children and women, Tirath said a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released the Hunger and Malnutrition Report report.
“For the next five-year plan, we have sought about `2-lakh crore which is several times higher than the amount sanctioned in the previous plan,” she said.
A nationwide campaign on malnutrition would be launched soon and the proposal to have separate Anganwadi worker to render counselling on nutrition was being considered, she noted. “We are planning to employ an extra worker in all Anganwadis. The worker would be assigned to meet mothers and their children at their houses and provide counselling on nutrition to the families,” she added.
Maintaining that the Centre alone cannot tackle the problem, Tirath said, “The states should cooperate with us. We have requested the states to form Nutrition Councils at the state and district level and also to invest in periodic statewide surveys in order to obtain specific reports and have offered assistance in this regard.”