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Chandrababu Naidu calls for end to malnutrition in a year
The 16th Collectors’ Conference expressed concern over malnutrition in children of SC, ST and other communities and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu instructed that the malnutrition problem must be solved in a year at any cost.
Amaravati: The 16th Collectors’ Conference expressed concern over malnutrition in children of SC, ST and other communities and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu instructed that the malnutrition problem must be solved in a year at any cost.
Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar said that significant progress has been made in the area of rural infrastructure with the government having achieved 100 per cent LPG connections for all eligible households along with 100 per cent electrification. Additionally, 80 per cent Open Defecation Free (ODF) status has been achieved in the rural areas.
Speaking on health and nutrition in specific tribal areas, Dinesh Kumar said, “There is a need for special focus on the ST population across 30 mandals in Kurnool and other districts. These mandals constitute of 42 per cent of state’s ST population.”
The percentage of severely underweight children in these ST dominated mandals is 4.2 per cent which is more than twice that of state’s average of 2 per cent, he said.
The Chief Minister was also informed that Kurnool has the highest percentage of underweight children in the state with 21 per cent of state’s underweight children present in Kurnool district.
The Chief Minister said, “A consolidated effort along with targeted action needs to be taken. The district collectors need to collaborate with the other local authorities to address the issue of malnutrition, low infant mortality and other such health issues.
Not just health and nutrition, a similar approach is needed in the areas of public distribution system, scholarships, education, poverty, malnutrition, garbage collection, ODF plus road connectivity, agriculture and other key areas.
We need to make sure that the public satisfaction is the highest here”. The chief secretary said crime against SCs and STs was increasing in the state. “AP is the 3rd highest state in crime against STs and 7th highest in crime against SCs,” he said.
Briefing the Chief Minister on the progress of the health department, principal secretary Poonam Malakondaiah said that the overall core health indicators and social health indicators across the 13 districts have seen improvement with a growth of 3.05 per cent in fourth quarter of 2017-18 from the previous quarter.
The maternal and infant mortality rates were also presented as an area of concern with East Godavari followed by Kadapa and Anantapur leading in maternal mortality. Anantapur followed by Guntur and Kurnool were the leading districts in infant mortality rates.
The Chief Minister was also presented with an action plan where each of the district collectors was entrusted to identify 40,000 square feet land to set up District Cancer Hospitals by NTR Trust. In a bid to counter malaria, the health department officials informed the Chief Minister that key blocks have been identified and hot spots are being created to counter it.
