Summary:
Raipur, Sep 12 (PTI) Kondagaon, a small tribal-dominated and Naxal-affected district in Chhattisgarh"s Bastar division, has recorded more than 40 per cent decline in the number of malnourished children in the last two years even as it is also tackling the COVID-19 pandemic since last year, an official claimed on Sunday.
Besides, a project, titled "Nangat Pila", (term coined in local "Halbi" dialect which means a healthy child), launched last year has not only helped in curbing malnutrition, but also provided a new source of livelihood to women and their self-help groups (SHGs) in the district.
Located over 200 km from the state capital Raipur, Kondagaon, which has often been in news due to Naxal violence, is now showing how a systematic approach can help in fighting malnutrition along with creating avenues of livelihood.
“The efforts made as part of the anti-malnutrition drive in the district resulted in bringing down the numbers of malnourished children from 19,572 in 2019 to 11,440 in July this year,” Kondgaon Collector Pushpendra Kumar Meena told PTI.
The credit for this 41.54 per cent decline in the cases goes to different departments, particularly workers of the anganwadis (government-run women and child care centres), he said.
The district, having a population of around six lakh, comprises 1,827 anganwadi centres.