PATNA: Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), a government programme which provides food and primary healthcare to children below six years of age and their mothers, will sign a memorandum of understanding with the local poultry farms to provide eggs to anganwadis for distribution among children and women.“The scheme is aimed at eliminating malnutrition . Initially, it will be implemented in six districts – Gopalganj, Vaishali, Siwan, Saran and Gaya – and spread to other districts over the next six months. Every month, 12 eggs will be given to malnourished child, eight to the normal child and seven to their mothers,” ICDS monitoring officer Kavi Priya said at a programme organised by Poshan, a non-government organisation, here on Thursday.Citing National Family Health Survey-4 and 5 reports and the data released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), experts at the programme said the state had made considerable progress in improving the nutritional status of women and children in the past one decade. “The prevalence of stunting, which reflects chronic undernutrition during the most critical periods of growth and development in early life, has shown a decline in the state,” Priya said.Dr Surendra Kumar, SPO, child health, said another scheme, National Iron Plus Initiative (NIPI), will also be implemented by the state government soon. The scheme is aimed at preventing iron deficiency among adolescents and women in reproductive age group. “Syrups will be provided to children in 0-5 age group and tablets to the children in the age group of 5-10 years through various public health centres,” he added.Purnima Menon, senior research fellow, IFPRI, said, “The prevalence of anaemia among women in reproductive age is more than 50% in state. The figure stands at 68.8% in Purnia.”

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