Odisha BJP Accuses Govt Of Failing In Ensuring Nutrition Security To Children & Women

Bhubaneswar: The BJP has accused the state government of failing to ensure nutrition security to children and pregnant women due to supply of poor quality food to them.

Speaking to media persons, here on Tuesday, national secretary of BJP’s Mahila Morcha Aiswarya Biswal said the state government has not learnt any lesson from Nagada malnutrition case. After providing poor quality ‘Chhatua’ (a local cereal), the government is now giving rice of inferior quality, she added.

Outlining five points on which the government has failed in ensuring nutrition, she said Odisha leads in low weight birth rate in the country at 18.25%.

Similarly, anaemic condition among women is another area of concern, she said adding that the population of such women in the state has gone up from 50% to 64%. Besides, infant mortality rate due to lack of nutrition intake by pregnant women has reached 41 per thousand, she added.

Claiming that the government was directly responsible for mal-nutrition of children and women, Biswal said it reflects total failure of the BJD government in healthcare sector during its 22-year rule in Odisha.