Conclave on ‘Nourishing India’s Tribal Children’ in Odisha capital in Jan, 2015

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Nov14:

The ST & SC Development Department of tthe Government of Odisha and SC & ST Research and Training Institute, in collaboration with the Departments of Women and Child Development and Health and Family Welfare of the state government and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India and UNICEF, Odisha are organising a two-day Conclave on ‘Nourishing India’s Tribal Children’ in Bhubaneswar on January 15-16, 2015.

The participants in the conclave will include practitioners, government officers and field workers from nine Schedule V states: Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telengana.

The primary focus of the two-day conclave is to collectively identify gaps, good practices and prepare a road map for improving access of tribal children to food, nutrition, health and sanitation that will improve their nutritional status.

Chronic under nutrition or Stunting (too short for one’s age) contributes to one-third of under-five child deaths. According to the National Family Health Survey-3 (2005-06), India has the highest number of stunted children globally and out of which maximum numbers are from tribal communities.