Early Times Report
Rajouri, June 11: About 50 per cent supplementary nutritious items supplied to Aganwari Centres in rural as well as urban areas in Rajouri district are allegedly not reaching the beneficiaries.
Not only this, a storekeeper in the office of Child Development Project Officer (CDPO), Rajouri, was also alleged to be issuing less quantity of ration to anganwari centres.
In May, after the complaints of distribution of less quantity of loose items including chana, sugar and moong dal, the ICDS programme officer had locked the store and initiated an inquiry against the storekeeper.
For the last many months, people of rural areas of Rajouri district have been alleging large scale bunglings in Aganwari Centres, saying that the children as well as pregnant women were not getting nutritious items regularly and as per the guidelines of union government.
"A secret investigation was initiated against the storekeeper for allegedly issuing less quantity of loose ration. During investigation, the complaints were found genuine and the store was sealed for further investigation," said ICDS programme officer Sheikh Nazir. Interestingly, the concerned officials had been making claims about the adequate availability of nutritious items at Aganwari Centres and their proper distribution among the beneficiaries. But their claims proved untrue after the officiating CMO, Rajouri, wrote a letter on June 10 last to the ICDS programme officer, stating that the children coming to Aganwari centres were not getting nutrition.
He claimed that he along with Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karykram (RBSK) teams visited many Aganwari Centres in Manjakot Health Block recently and found that no supplementary nutrition is being provided to the children.
He requested Programme Officer, ICDS, to issue instructions to his field staff to ensure proper distribution of supplementary nutrition to the children coming to these centres.
The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme of the Ministry of Women and Child Development is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in which Central Government is responsible for Policy and Programme Planning and States/ Union Territories (UTs) are responsible for the implementation of the Scheme including procurement, supply and management of supplementary nutrition at the Anganwadi Centres (AWCs). |
