Odisha minister calls for concerted action to improve nutrition among tribal children

Reported by Santosh Jagdev

Bhubaneswar, Jan 15:

Odisha’s Minister for Scheduled Tribe (ST) & scheduled Caste (SC) Development  Lal Bihari Himirika today called for continuous efforts by many ministries, departments and stakeholders working together to improve the nutrition status of tribal children.

“Progress will remain incomplete without taking the needs and aspirations of the tribal population into account and development is not possible with children being under nourished. To it requires  deliver results,” he said addressing a two day national level conclave on the theme ‘Nourishing India’s Tribal Children- Voices of front liners, promising practices and policy implications’ organised by UNICEF and cthe State and Central governments.

Himirika said our state occupies an important position in the country with its unique blend of diversity in tribal population. There are a total of 22 scheduled tribe communities and 14 particular venerable tribal groups (PVTGs) in Odisha. As per 2011 census, the population of tribals in our state is about 95 lakhs, which constitute  22.85% of the total population of the state and 9.66% of the tribal poulation in the country.

The minister said the state government has been making continuous  efforts for development of tribals by implementing various flagship programmes and initiatives relating to their socioeconomic development, emphasis on education, livelihood, cultural and legal empowerment.

The state has 71,000 centers under the Centre’s integrated child development services (ICDS), which is the largest early childhood programme in thw world, to address malnutrition and health problems in children below six years of age and their mothers, the minister said.

The minister also laid importance on education in tribal population. He said,”For this, our government has proposed to set up 5000 hostels of which 70% of these are completed so far to provide education to the 4.5 lakh tribal children of the state. New plans are afoot to set up urban hostels for tribals children joining English medium sschools. Already work is on in setting up urban hostels in Rourkela and Berhampur”.

In his address, UNICEF representative Louis Georges Arsenault emphasized the need of focus on the stubbornly high stunting rates among tribal population. Tribals, particularly women and children, still lack education, clean drinking water, nutritional food, sanitation, access to proper medical care putting them at much higher risk to become under nourished, challenging their growth and development.

“This two day conclave would represent an important moment where we can collectively commit to ensure tribal children have equal chances to develop and grow to their full potential. This conclave is an indication of our resolve to make change happen,” Mr Louis added.

The two day conclave will have six sessions in which experts from across the country will deliver on various subjects related to integrated child development services.

The conclave also showcases stalls from various states like Odisha, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand etc, on special malnutrition treatment centers, mid day scheme, LAC culture cultivation and many more to learn about tribal livelihood.

Among others, state Minister for Tribal Welfare Sudam Marandi, MP Baijayant Panda, Textiles Minister Smt Snehangini Chhuria, UNICEF India Country representative also spoke on the inaugural session of the conclave.