Drumstick to fight malnutrition in Madhya Pradesh

The Madhya Pradesh government has geared up its machinery to ensure availability of drumsticks to malnourished children in the state.

Accordingly, the women and child welfare department has issued directions to all anganwadi centres across state to supply drumstick saplings to every household that has recorded malnutrition cases.

“All the anganwadi workers have been tasked with the responsibility of providing a drumstick sapling each to the house where malnutrition cases have been reported. A target has been fixed by the state government to supply drumstick sapling to 2,000 families having malnourished kids by the end of March next year,” a senior officer in the women and child welfare department said on Monday.

The decision to engage anganwadi workers for supplying drumstick saplings to the malnourished households has been taken after the state government failed to procure required quantities of drumstick seeds from nurseries of the forest department, official sources said.

Being rich in carbohydrate, protein, potassium, iron, magnesium and vitamins drumstick can effectively combat malnutrition in children.

According to Rahul Dutt, joint director in the women and child welfare department, a stock of drumstick seeds and saplings has so far been arranged to distribute among 700 such families.

Incidentally, Rs 8,000 crore have been spent in the state in the past one decade to fight malnutrition menace. However, still MP has earned the dubious distinction of recording highest infant mortality rate (IMR) (54 per 1,000 births) in the country.

The National Human Rights Commission has taken suo motu cognisance of the reports of death of 116 tribal children in Sheopur district in the state in a span of three months due to malnutrition and sought a report from the state government on it. The World Health Organisation has also recommended drumstick as food supplement for malnourished children.