http://epaper.timesofindia.
Ahmedabad: Are children in Gujarat’s four main tribal districts dieting to look pretty or simply unable to afford a decent meal to fill their bellies? Four out of top five districts with most malnourished kids in Gujarat are from the tribal belt, according to National Family Health Survey III.
No wonder, activists believe chief minister Narendra Modi has trivialized a serious issue of malnutrition by saying figureconscious girls from middleclass families fight with their mother over drinking milk.
Available data reveals that the problem plagues tribal children the most even as malnutrition in the state is higher than the national average. There are 41.1% underweight kids and 55.3% anaemic women in the age group 15-45 years in the state. A state government website admits that “under-nutrition contributes to 53% of all child deaths in the state”.
The Indian Human Development report 2011: Towards Social Inclusion released in October says 64.5% children from the scheduled tribes in the age group of 0-5 are underweight in the state. This is much higher than the state average 44.6%.
The Indian State Hunger Index 2009 survey by the International Food Policy Research Institute ranks Gujarat at the 13th position in its hunger index.
“Malnourishment is a serious issue killing girls in the state. It was shocking that CM has trivialized the issue like this attributing it to figure-conscious middle-class girls and vegetarianism. The poor children who do not get good nutrition cannot be ignored and neither should the issue be taken so lightly. The problem should be
faced and redressed in all its seriousness,” said founder-director of Ahmedabad Women’s Action Group Ila Pathak.P 3
Times View
It is hard to stomach the argument that figure-conscious girls in Gujarat don’t drink milk and are hence malnourished. Malnourishment is the highest among poorer sections of the society, especially the tribals. If milk was available, most would have gulped it. Even if these poor families own cattle, documents prepared by the Modi government show that they prefer to sell the milk rather than offer it totheir children. The chief minister would do well to accept these facts and try to improve Gujarat’s poor record in the social sector, mainly health and education, where it is clubbed with ‘Bimaru’ states.
Modi Panned For ‘Trivializing Serious Issue Of Malnutrition’
Himanshu Kaushik & Radha Sharma TNN
Ahmedabad: Are children in Gujarat’s four main tribal districts dieting to look pretty or simply unable to afford a decent meal to fill their bellies? Four out of top five districts with most malnourished kids in Gujarat are from the tribal belt, according to National Family Health Survey III.
No wonder, activists believe chief minister Narendra Modi has trivialized a serious issue of malnutrition by saying figureconscious girls from middleclass families fight with their mother over drinking milk.
Available data reveals that the problem plagues tribal children the most even as malnutrition in the state is higher than the national average. There are 41.1% underweight kids and 55.3% anaemic women in the age group 15-45 years in the state. A state government website admits that “under-nutrition contributes to 53% of all child deaths in the state”.
The Indian Human Development report 2011: Towards Social Inclusion released in October says 64.5% children from the scheduled tribes in the age group of 0-5 are underweight in the state. This is much higher than the state average 44.6%.
The Indian State Hunger Index 2009 survey by the International Food Policy Research Institute ranks Gujarat at the 13th position in its hunger index.
“Malnourishment is a serious issue killing girls in the state. It was shocking that CM has trivialized the issue like this attributing it to figure-conscious middle-class girls and vegetarianism. The poor children who do not get good nutrition cannot be ignored and neither should the issue be taken so lightly. The problem should be
faced and redressed in all its seriousness,” said founder-director of Ahmedabad Women’s Action Group Ila Pathak.P 3
Times View
It is hard to stomach the argument that figure-conscious girls in Gujarat don’t drink milk and are hence malnourished. Malnourishment is the highest among poorer sections of the society, especially the tribals. If milk was available, most would have gulped it. Even if these poor families own cattle, documents prepared by the Modi government show that they prefer to sell the milk rather than offer it totheir children. The chief minister would do well to accept these facts and try to improve Gujarat’s poor record in the social sector, mainly health and education, where it is clubbed with ‘Bimaru’ states.
