Yogi government’s ‘possible’ attack on malnutrition, investigation of 395 Anganwadi centers in 26 districts

Lucknow, 01 October. In Uttar Pradesh, efforts are being made to make Yogi government’s Sambhav 6.0 campaign more effective at the grassroots level for prevention of malnutrition and improvement in the nutritional status of children. UNICEF’s state and divisional teams along with the Department of Child Development and Nutrition are continuously conducting regional monitoring to take stock of the campaign’s progress, quality of services and departmental coordination. So far, 395 Anganwadi centers in 26 districts have been monitored.

Quality of nutrition services tested at 395 centers

During the follow-up, measurement of weight and height of children, growth monitoring, activities of Sambhav 6.0 and implementation of microplan were observed. Necessary equipment for growth monitoring was available at most of the centers and practical skills related to measurement of Anganwadi workers were generally found to be good.

Strong picture of departmental coordination in 26 districts

During the assessment in 26 districts, coordination between ICDS, Health and Panchayati Raj Department and active participation of officials was found positive in most of the districts. By preparing microplan at the district level, the campaign is being given momentum through regular review meetings, training and orientation.

The team also visited Agra, Etah and Firozabad

Dr. Sandeep Seth of UNICEF’s state level team recently conducted field monitoring in Agra, Etah and Firozabad. Along with taking stock of possible 6.0 activities and growth monitoring at Anganwadi centres, necessary technical suggestions were given by communicating with officials and frontline workers.

Documentation and training will get more emphasis

Harshita Mathur, Director of Child Development and Nutrition and State Nutrition Mission, said that despite better conduct of activities at some places during monitoring, there was a need to strengthen documentation. Emphasis is being laid on keeping microplans, meeting proceedings, field visits and action taken reports organized. Along with this, emphasis is also being given on training frontline workers to increase their technical capacity regarding growth monitoring device (GMDS), Sambhav 6.0 and identification and management of severe malnutrition (SAM).