Discussion held for effective convergence between departments headed by Women and Child Development Department
Raipur 08 January 2021. In Chhattisgarh, a campaign is being launched to eradicate malnutrition through the coordinated efforts of various departments. To make these efforts more effective, a meeting of various associate departments was held on Thursday under the chairmanship of Women and Child Development Department. Representatives of UNICEF and voluntary organizations including nodal officers of Health, School Education, Panchayat and Rural Development, Agriculture and Horticulture, Public Health Engineering, Scheduled Castes and Tribes Welfare, Urban Administration Department. The meeting chalked out a strategy for achieving goals with coordinated efforts, mutual coordination and cooperation among the delegates to make Chhattisgarh malnutrition and anemia free.
It was agreed to compile important schemes between various departments of the state government in the form of a booklet, so that information can be provided to the Anganwadi Center and Gram Panchayat level and from there to the general public. Like orientation training on nutrition of elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions, it was considered to include nutrition in the training of representatives of urban bodies. The meeting was informed that as per the decision taken in the meeting held on 21 October 2020, the convergence of home-based child care program by Anganwadi worker and Mitanin in joint housekeeping, Instructions for joint meeting and joint visit at project and district level, including collaborative supervision by ICDA and health observers, have been issued at the secretary level. Along with this, data sharing is being processed between Health and Family Welfare Department and Women and Child Development Department.
The meeting discussed various strategies for effective coordination in relation to various programs run by the Health Department, Viva, National Adolescent Health Program, admission and follow up of malnourished children in nutritional rehabilitation centers. In coordination with the Horticulture Department, a strategy was decided to increase the construction of a nutritional garden in the Anganwadi center, community space and residence of the beneficiaries, so that children and mothers can get nutritious fruits and vegetables locally. Along with this, sensitization of the departmental staff of School Education Department on nutrition, online competitions on nutrition related topics, verification of information of school children, re-admission of school, Effective implementation of iron folic acid distribution was discussed. Public Health Engineering Department considered the supply of clean drinking water and orientation of cleanliness groups of Swachh Bharat Mission in more and more Anganwadi centers. In the meeting, representatives of other voluntary organizations including UNICEF highlighted the work being done for the prevention of malnutrition and anemia in the state.
