• 1 Dec 2013 • Hindustan Times (Lucknow) • HT Correspondent ■ lkoreportersdesk@hindustantimes Cash-strapped UP poor borrow to buy food: Survey ZoomBookmarkSharePrintListenTranslate 80% families in 10 ‘high burden’ districts in the state take loans at high interest rate for food and medicine According to a recent survey, about 80% families take loans from local sources at high interest rate for food and medicine. The survey was conducted in 10 out of 41 Uttar Pradesh districts, identified as high burden districts by the union government. ASHOK DUTTA/ HT PHOTOA consultation meet on malnourishment by Voice of People organisation on Saturday. Sharing the findings on Saturday at a consultation programme by Voice of People, its convenor Shruti Nagvanshi said, “It is ironical that voters who are much sought after during elections lack even basic requirements of food and medicine and end up being exploited at the hands of local money lenders.” The compiled report also studied data of 112 malnourished children and their poor f amilies and 44 malnourished children from Musahar, Baiga, Gond and other backward castes from 66 village panchayats in 22 blocks of 10 districts in the state. The objective of this consultation was to understand the working of state programmes under Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) like village sanitation and nutrition committee and mothers’ groups. “The issue is not only of accessibility but also of funds. Out of 117 village sanitation and nutrition committees, only 79 % have received grants from the state and 66% have utilised the money. As many as 84% committees are not equipped to perform their duties because of lack of training,” said Lenin Raghuvanshi of People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights. He said that there was lack of vocation for tribal communities in the state hence they were dependant on facilities such as MNREGS but during monsoon, even this opportunity was lost. “After analysing demographic, socio-economic and government efforts in Uttar Pradesh, it is clear that there are many factors that affect children and mothers of the state. Many child health programmes are running with Aanganwadis but there is clear lack of will and intent from the government. Malnutrition deserves far greater attention and investment than it currently receives,” said Shruti. The districts surveyed were 41 out of the total 200 ranked high burden districts in the country. These included Varanasi, Sonbhadra, Mirzapur, Azamgarh, Kaushambi, Ambedkar na g ar, Badaun, Chandauli, Shrawasti and Mahoba. The consultation was attended by key stakeholders. Dr Sayeeda Hameed, member, Planning Commission, Rajesh Jha from National Rural Health Mission, Ramesh Prakash Rao from Anganwadi Sangh and representatives from other organisations were present. paper.hindustantimes/epaper/iphone/homepage.aspx#_article3c461893-a304-4efb-bf97-af8bf23b3202/waarticle3c461893-a304-4efb-bf97-af8bf23b3202/3c461893-a304-4efb-bf97-af8bf23b3202//true
Posted on: Sun, 01 Dec 2013 04:52:49 +0000
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