Kerala: Nutritional mix for poor children not all right
The supplement is prepared using natural nutritious ingredients and the objective is to prevent parents from purchasing costly tin food.
Thiruvananthapuram: The Ministry of Women and Child Development has found that there are serious anomalies in the distribution of ‘Amru-tham Nutrimix’, a nutrition supplement, to children below the age of three through anganwadis in the state.
The ministry officials, during their field visit in the state earlier, had found that the nutrition supplement was distributed in an haphazard manner, without accountability. The distribution was carried out not in the presence of the Mother Committee or Welfare Committee members as is mandatory. The Centre has also asked the state submit a report on the quality of the nutrition supplement.
“The absence of these monitoring committees allows anganwadi supervisors to be arbitrary in their distribution. There is a chance that those deserving will be left out,” a top ICDS official said. Amrutham Nutrimix is a supplement for children between the age of six months and three years. Each child has to be provided 135 gms of the supplement daily.
Families collect their supply for 15 days from their nearest anganwadi normally on the first of every month. They will have to assemble at the anganwadi twice every month.
The supplement is prepared using natural nutritious ingredients and the objective is to prevent parents from purchasing costly tin food.
“It is true that certain anganwadis distribute the supplement without the supervision of the committee. But it has to be acknowledged that it is not always possible to get the monitoring committee members to the anganwadi in time for the distribution. The committee is made up of busy people like the panchayat members,” an ICDS project officer said.
The quality of Nutrimix, manufactured by Kudumbashree, has long before been in question. A CAG report in 2014 had revealed that there was no standardisation across Kudumbashree units. "The ingredients, and their quantity, that went into the making of Nutrimix were not of the same quality across units,” the report had said. Even mild deficiencies in micronutrients will adversely affect the development and immunity of children.