JEYPORE: The much-hyped SOPAN (Strategy for Odisha’s Pathway to Accelerated Nutrition) programme of the State government seems to have got stuck in Koraput district as Anganwadi workers refuse to implement it citing low budget provision for food supplements.
Official sources said, the district social welfare department has already placed funds for the SOPAN scheme to all 2,364 centres under 15 ICDS projects but not a single center started the scheme, scheduled to start from first week of this month.
In 2021, it was decided to implement SOPAN to improve nutrition status of adolescent girls (14-19 yrs), pregnant and nursing women and children through anganwadi centres, across 125 ICDS blocks in 22 districts where health indicators of the targeted category are low.
As per the plan, Rs 9 was allotted per beneficiary for provision of nutritious food in anganwadi centres. Cooked meals were to be given to pregnant and nursing women on six days a week, while adolescents would be provided boiled egg and lemon juice weekly thrice. Of the Rs 9, helpers and workers are entitled to take Rs 1 as wage, the rest being for the health supplements.
However, anganwadi workers are unwilling to go ahead with the implementation as it is difficult for them to manage food within the Rs 8 budget. “The government should know that cost of one egg is Rs 6, rice at Rs 40 per kg, a lemon up to Rs 7 and other cooking material up to Rs 5 per beneficiary in market. All this comes around to Rs 22 per beneficiary. How do we manage with a paltry budget of Rs 8,??” they ask.
President of Koraput district anganwadi ladies workers’ union, Sanjukta Sahu said,”We cannot run the SOPAN scheme in our anganwadi centers with such low budgetary provision. All workers have decided to go ahead with the plan only after a proper budget is made for the food supplements and appropriate salary structure laid for the workers and helpers.”
Meanwhile, the district Collector has reportedly been informed about the non-implementation of the scheme due to budgetary hassles. District social welfare officer BL Patra admitted that anganwadi workers have raised objections to the budget for SOPAN, so the delay in implementation.