The Week India – July 14, 2019

JULY 14, 2019 • THE WEEK 47

■ INTERVIEW

Ramsewak Singh

social welfare minister, Bihar

Our target is to

cover 100 per

cent children

under ICDS

to only fi xed number of children and

pregnant or lactating women.

There is no such order. All those who

are eligible are to be covered. Provide

me with details of the place where

you found the lacuna and I will get it

checked.

Malnutrition has been found to

be a common factor in the Acute

Encephalitis Syndrome deaths. ICDS

targets malnutrition, but its poor

implementation has proved fatal.

What do you plan to do about it?

We have initiated a joint inquiry with

other departments, especially health,

in fi ve blocks of the worst-hit Muzaff ar-

pur district to fi nd out where we went

wrong. The anganwadis had a mandate

to create awareness for prevention of

AES. We want to fi nd out whether there

was some negligence by our depart-

ment and whether ground workers took

due interest in the task. The inquiry

report would be out soon.

Bihar has the highest number of

stunted and underweight children

in the country, indicating high

malnutrition. How will you tackle

the same?

The very mandate of our depart-

ment (ICDS directorate) is to combat

malnutrition and reduce stunting. We

are taking all possible steps for that.

Anganwadi workers are conducting

counselling sessions for parents. There

is no dearth of funds, too.

For full interview, log in to theweek.in

Among the bigger states with poor
health indices, Bihar is the only one
where women and child develop-
ment falls under the department
of social welfare, showing a lack of
focus on the sector. And Bihar’s ICDS
directorate is headed, strangely, by
an Indian Forest Service offi cer.
Th is lack of focus on women
and child care translates into grim
statistics. As per NFHS-4 data, only
34.3 per cent children received
supplementary nutrition. As for
growth monitoring, only 23 per cent
of children were weighed at angan-
wadis. Every anganwadi is allotted
0 19,200 per month for supplemen-
tary nutrition, which is directly
transferred to the account of workers.
Some workers complain that they
do not get the funds every month.
Th ere are allegations of corruption
and payment of a “share” to higher
offi cials. Moreover, Bihar’s contribu-
tion to the honorarium of anganwadi
workers and helpers is the lowest
among bigger states— 0 750 and 0 375,
respectively—over the Central grant
of 0 4,500 and 0 3,500. In Madhya
Pradesh, the state share is 0 7,000 and
0 3,500, respectively.
According to a report of the
Centre for Budget and Governance
Accountability, the budget outlay for
direct nutrition interventions (DNIs)
in Bihar for 2017-2018 was 0 2,687
crore—1.5 per cent of the budget.
It was 1.9 per cent of the budget in
2014-2015. Also, the highest resource
gap for DNIs was in the treatment
of severe acute malnutrition cases.
In 2017, only 0 8.9 crore was allotted
against a requirement of 0 185 crore.
Th ese gaps are manifested in the
condition of children at Vaishali
district’s Nutrition Rehabilitation
Centre (NRC) at Mahua. When we
reach there around 7pm, a frail See-
ma Devi, 18, looks crestfallen as she
holds her seven-month-old daughter,
Anupriya. Despite being admitted
to the NRC a few days ago, the baby
looks extremely malnourished. And,

BY SRAVANI SARKAR

When there is a provision for

universalisation of the Integrated

Child Development Services in the

country, why is Bihar giving bene-

fi ts only to selected children?

All eligible children are to be covered

under the ICDS through anganwadis.

We have a target to cover 100 per

cent children. We have been sanc-

tioned one anganwadi per ward.

Though earlier the numbers were

less, we now have over one lakh

anganwadis; a few more are under

construction. We are taking all steps

for proper implementation.

But, we were told that there is a

department order to give benefi ts

there is only Bina Devi, the cook, to

take care of her and 14 other severely

malnourished children. Th e 20-bed

centre has only one feeding counsel-

lor and a cook-cum-caretaker—the

requirement is two each—and a

medical social worker. Th e posts of

two medical offi cers, eight nurses

and two attendants lie vacant.

“It is very diffi cult. I will be on 24-

hour duty today as the social worker

is not present,” says Bina. She seems

helpless, but so are the parents. “I

want my child to be healthy, but

she seems to be deteriorating by the

day,” says Anupriya’s father, Ranjan

Kumar. His voice is dejected, but

it is haunting and resonates across

Bihar’s most deprived districts. Only,

the state seems to be deaf.