Bhubaneswar: More than 11,000 children suffer from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in Odisha, said Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida in Assembly on Saturday.
Replying to a question from BJP MLA Laxman Bag, Parida, who is also Minister of Women and Child Development, said tribal-dominated Mayurbhanj district has the highest 1,460 with SAM of the total 11,710 in the state.
Mayurbhanj is followed by Keonjhar with 1,269 and Nabarangpur with 760 children suffering from the malnutrition, she added, Keonjhar is Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s home district.
The districts having high number of such children include Rayagada with 645, Kalahandi 636, Malkangiri 570, Ganjam 558 and Balasore 536. Jagatsinghpur district is at the bottom of the table with 50 children having SAM.
The deputy chief minister said the government has been running several schemes including Supplementary Nutrition Programme, ‘Mukhymantri Samproona Pushti Yojana’ (MSPY), ‘Pada Prusti Karyakram’ (PPK) and ‘Mamata Diwas’-VHND (Village Health and Nutrition Day) at Anganwadi centres to prevent malnutrition among the children.
