Malnutrition among kids down in 2 years, says minister

Punjab cabinet minister Baljit Kaur says the state has become the leading state among the neighbouring states, including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, in reducing malnutrition among children.

Punjab cabinet minister Baljit Kaur on Tuesday said the state government was successful in bringing down the malnutrition among children significantly during the past two years since Bhagwant Singh Mann took over as the chief minister.

Punjab cabinet minister Baljit Kaur.

The minister of social security, women and child development chaired a meeting with the district programme officers and child development project officers to discuss the schemes. She referred to the reply by Union minister for women and child development Annapurna Devi in the Lok Sabha on July 26, confirming that stunting among children in Punjab had come down from 22.08% in 2022 to 17.65% this year, wasting reduced from 9.54% to 3.17% and the underweight children had come down from 12.58% to 5.57%.

The minister said Punjab had become the leading state among the neighbouring states, including Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, in reducing malnutrition among children.

Addressing the reports of a scam in the distribution of panjiri among children in anganwadi centres, minister Baljit Kaur assured that strict action would be taken in case any laxity is found in the implementation of the scheme as the food served at anganwadi centres has a direct impact on the health of children, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

They discussed the need to upgrade anganwadi centres and directed the district programme officers to submit a proposal. She also directed the officials to ensure registration of each beneficiary.

She also expressed concern over the declining sex ratio of girls under ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign. He asked the district authorities to investigate the reasons for the decline and submit a detailed report.