BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday directed officials to step up efforts to improve maternal and child health, tackle malnutrition and strengthen the quality of school education.
Chairing a high-level meeting under the government’s PRAYAS (Proactive Governance Attempt for Yielding Results and Advancing Social Sector) initiative at Lok Seva Bhavan, Majhi reviewed the progress of the Health and Family Welfare, Women and Child Development, and School and Mass Education departments.
The chief minister said health, nutrition and quality education were critical to building a strong society and called for greater efficiency in the delivery of basic services. He directed the Health department to take stronger measures to bring down the maternal mortality rate and launch a campaign to reduce infant and neonatal mortality.
Improving access to quality healthcare for pregnant women and newborns in rural and remote areas, enhancing the accountability of health workers and strengthening emergency services at hospitals were outlined as priorities at the meeting.
On nutrition, the chief minister called for strengthening the ‘Suposhita Odisha’ campaign to address malnutrition-related problems such as stunting and wasting among children. He also stressed the need to ensure the quality of food and nutritional supplements supplied through anganwadi centres and strengthen monitoring of their distribution.
In education, Majhi emphasised improving foundational learning from the primary level. He asked the department to make every effort to raise learning outcomes and ensure that teachers remain focused on teaching and core academic activities.
The PRAYAS initiative seeks to provide a structural platform for examining complex social-sector issues at the grassroots and finding timely and sustainable solutions.
