LAGATAR24 NETWORK
Ranchi, Jan 11: The Hemant Soren government has made repeated promises of providing five eggs a week in schools and six eggs a week in anganwadis. However, till date, the government is yet to fulfil them. As a result, the Right to Food (RTF) Campaign, Jharkhand Chapter on Wednesday placed several demands to address the alarming situation of undernutrition in the state.
These include daily eggs in midday meals and anganwadis. Explaining this demand, activists said, “School children get two eggs a week at best, while children below six years of age do not get any. The provision of eggs is an excellent way of tackling the record levels of undernutrition among children in Jharkhand. Last week, hundreds of people wrote to CM Soren to demand eggs in the state’s midday meals and anganwadis.”
Furthermore, the RTF, Jharkhand chapter has demanded universalization of maternity entitlements. Officials claimed that Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana entitles women to a maternity benefit of Rs 5000 for the first child (now extended to the second child if it is a girl). This violates the National Food Security Act (NFSA) provisions, which entitle a maternity benefit of Rs 6000 without any conditionality.
“Maternity benefits can help mothers improve their nutrition and better look after their newborn child. This entitlement is especially crucial in Jharkhand, which has an infant mortality rate of 38 (per 1000 live births) and where 57 percent of pregnant women are anaemic. The government must ensure maternity entitlement on every child as per NFSA norms and timely disbursal of the benefit amount,” RTF officials added.
They have also demanded the expansion of social security pensions. Claiming that in its manifesto for the 2019 Vidhan Sabha election, JMM had promised to increase the monthly amount of social security pension to Rs 2500 for the elderly, widows, and persons with disabilities, officials said, “However more than three years after making this promise, the pension amount is still Rs 1000 per month. The government must immediately increase the monthly pension amount to at least Rs 3000.”
Along with this, the officials have demanded a regular supply of rice for green ration card holders as the Jharkhand government has taken the appreciable step of expanding the ambit of the Public Distribution System beyond the coverage mandated by the National Food Security Act by issuing “green” ration cards. However, for the past several months, the rice supply has been very irregular under this category of ration cards. The government must immediately resolve this issue, the officials have said.
