Educational News

They served poor quality food at Anganwadi for Children

Food provided in the anganwadis school in Karnataka were below the par, with high level of zinc constituents, hampering the health of many children.

L.Raghunanda

4^th Estate

Bangalore

The food given to children in Anganwadis in the Karnataka has come for the scanner, with 54,260 anganwadis in the state and 33, 80,338 children the mid day meal is the ambitious programme of the state.

“But irregularities in the mid meal scheme is immense” said G.Nagasimha Rao Co-ordinator Child Rights Trust, Karnataka who has been co-ordiantion with other organisation like South Indian cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (SICHREM) in making assessment of how the mid day meal scheme is functioning in the state.

“ What was shocking was that the factory that produced the packaged food, the food distributed by Christy Friedgram Industry (CFI) had harmful zinc quantities 6.25 and 9.54 mg per 100 gms, as against permissible limit of 5 mg per 100 gms prescribed by Food Adulteration Act, 1955, and that was provided to children, this is something intolerable.

“The number of children who consumed those poisonous food and fell ill, their number is not available, but many slept citing stomach pain, diarrhea nausea, and headache,

“In Bangalore, Ramnagar, Dharwad, Bellary, Chickmagalur, Bagalkot, Kodagu, Dakshina Kannada, Uttar Kannada, Tumkur, Udupi,Hassan, Gulburga and Shimoga,in the above listed district education department of the respective district rejected the demand to provide any packaged food.

“Citing that we will provide good cooked nutritious food, so there are lucky ones of the district who escaped while rest of the district in the state where anganwadis are there CFI food was supplied so this children are suffering or so called suffered.

In the whole episode government never really looked into, not paid even little attention about kind of packaged food, that was made available to children

So various concerned organisation like Concerned for Working Children, South Indian Cell for Human Rights Education and Monitoring (SICHREM) have sent the report of all the excess to Lokayukta.

This organization have already have sent their complaint to concerned ministry to look into it, and child women welfare department was slow to act, so our anger expressed in various forums

G. Nagasimha made known that “ we are working in the interest of the children, this children must get the right quality food, we want the child and women welfare ministry to give answer where they have gone wrong, and those in the ministry who are not working in the best interest of welfare of children must leave the plum post, resign and go.