Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has unveiled a revamped system for distributing nutritious food to Anganwadi centers across the state. In a significant shift, the government has established a mechanism where women self-help groups are responsible for delivering the food, replacing the previous practice involving the liquor mafia.
Yogi Adityanath also inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for numerous new Anganwadi centers and child development project offices. During the event, he highlighted the government’s commitment to eradicating encephalitis, improving nutrition, and expressed the aspiration of propelling India to become the world’s third-largest economy by 2027.
Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister, revealed the transformation during the National Nutrition Month program at Lok Bhavan. He remarked, “There was a time when the liquor mafia used to supply ‘nutritious food’ in Uttar Pradesh. Our government has created a new mechanism through which women self-help groups are now delivering nutritious food to Anganwadi centers.”
As part of this initiative, Adityanath inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for 1,359 Anganwadi centers, amounting to a total cost of ₹155 crore. Additionally, he initiated the construction of 171 child development project offices with an estimated cost of ₹50 crore. In a significant move, the Chief Minister facilitated the transfer of ₹29 crore through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) for uniforms (sarees) to 2.90 lakh Anganwadi workers and helpers.
The Chief Minister emphasized the inspiration drawn from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s nationwide campaign to combat malnutrition. He noted that significant progress had been made in Uttar Pradesh over the past six years in addressing malnutrition.
Yogi Adityanath also reflected on the past challenges posed by encephalitis in the state, which used to claim 1,200-1,500 lives annually. He credited the significant improvement in nutrition and the government’s efforts to eradicate encephalitis to inter-departmental coordination with the central government.
Underlining the achievements, he stated, “There has been a 5.1 percent improvement in anaemia, 6.6 percent improvement in dwarfism, 7.4 percent improvement in underweight, and 0.6 percent improvement in dryness between 2015-2016 and 2019-2020.”
The Chief Minister announced plans to organize competitions for healthy boys and girls at Anganwadi centers, nyay panchayat, and block levels.
In closing, Yogi Adityanath expressed the state government’s ambitious goal to establish India as the world’s third-largest economy by 2027, aligning with Prime Minister Modi’s vision for India’s development by 2047, the centenary year of independence. As part of the event, he also gifted medicines and nutritious food items to pregnant women, conducted the ‘Annaprashan Sanskar’ for infants, and recognized the progress of malnourished children under the ‘Sambhav’ campaign, awarding sarees to Anganwadi workers as tokens of appreciation.
