Ministry blames states for hungry kids, fires letters

The ministry of women and child development has shot off stinkers to two state governments, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, pointing out that poor implementation of centrally sponsored schemes is contributing to malnutrition. Nandini R Iyer reports.

The ministry of women and child development has shot off stinkers to two state governments, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, pointing out that poor implementation of centrally sponsored schemes is contributing to malnutrition.

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The letters were sent 20 days after HT first reported how children in Ganne village in UP were reduced to eating silica-laced mud because they were not "officially poor" and were thus ineligible for official aid.

A ministry official said on Thursday that when a ministry team visited Ganne, they found "access to water is poor, there was a total absence of labour welfare measures in Ganne..."

The ministry’s letter to the UP government pointed out that even basic monitoring tools like weighing scales were not available with the anganwadis.

In the case of MP, after the media reported the deaths of 43 children in Jhabua, said to be a result of malnutrition, WCD minister Krishna Tirath visited the area.

The letter to the MP administration is even harsher. WCD secretary DK Sikri has written that the minister returned with an impression of "poor, tardy, and deficient implementation of Integrated Child Development Schemes in the area."