VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed officials to provide nutritious food to lactating mothers and children and develop basic infrastructure at all Anganwadi centres in the State. Special emphasis should be laid on achieving sustainable development goals in the field of women and child welfare and Andhra Pradesh should be number one in the country in women and child welfare, he asserted.Holding a review meeting with the officials of women and child welfare department here on Wednesday, he said steps were taken to prevent anaemia in infants and pregnant women and malnutrition in children. Supervisor posts to monitor the functioning of Anganwadis will be filled soon.
Quality food, eggs and milk should be supplied to children in Anganwadis. There should be no deficiency in quantity of food being provided to lactating mothers and children. Refrigerators should be provide to Anganwadi centres to store food. Third-party monitoring should be arranged with a Central organisation to ensure proper distribution of food. Markfed will take over the distribution of nutritious food from December 1. A special app should be developed to monitor the distribution of eggs from November, he said.
The Chief Minister underlined the need for maintenance of proper hygiene at all Anganwaid centres, including those housed in rented buildings. Comprehensive development of Anganwadis should be taken up under Nadu-Nedu. The activities of Anganwadis should be prepared in coordination with the school education department, he stressed.
Jagan started a programme for distribution of 57,000 cell phones to Anganwadis and supervisors for effective monitoring of the centres. At present, the State government is spending Rs 1,900 crore on children’s food per anum, compared to Rs 500 spent during the previous TDP regime, he highlighted.
Underlining the need to closely monitor the health of children in Anganwadis, he said medical officers of village health clinics should taken up the responsibility with the help of Asha workers and welfare assistants in village secretariats. The State government has also brought foundation schools and satellite foundation schools for the benefit of children to make them learn English.
The schemes launched by the government for the welfare of children should be implemented effectively to achieve desired results. Otherwise, spending of thousands of crores of rupees on child welfare will not serve the purpose, he cautioned.
Women and Child Welfare Minister KV Ushasri Charan, Principal Secretary (Women and Child welfare) M Ravi Chandra, Finance Secretary KVV Satyanarayana, APDDCF MD A Babu, MARKFED MD PS Pradyumna and Women and Child Welfare Director A Siri and other officials attended the meeting.
NUTRITIOUS FOOD FOR KIDS
Markfed will take over the distribution of nutritious food from December 1. A special app should be developed to monitor the distribution of eggs from November. The State government is spending `1,900 crore on children’s food per anum, Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy said