“I am four months pregnant,” said Roshni Rawat, 27, who lives in the Habibpur village of Lucknow. IndiaSpend in June. “I should get dry rations from the anganwadi every month. But this time I only received one ration every two months. How will I manage? Roshni has two children, a four-year-old and a one-year-old who are severely malnourished.
To tackle widespread malnutrition, dry rations are distributed in Uttar Pradesh through its 189,000 anganwadi centres. Known as anupurak pushtahar or supplemental nutrition, they are provided to children between the ages of six months and six years, pregnant and lactating women, malnourished children and adolescents between the ages of 11 and 16. This is part of Comprehensive Child Development Services, which provides education and health services for children and mothers.
Rawat is entitled to get 1.5kg of daliya wheat, 1kg of rice, 1kg of chana dal (split chickpeas) and 500 ml of cooking oil from the anganwadi every month. However, after April, Rawat received these rations in June.
Severely malnourished children should be given 600 calories and 20-25 grams of protein every day, according to Uttar Pradesh Bal Vikas Seva Evam Pushtahar Vibhag guidelines. However, it would be difficult to meet these standards if the beneficiaries do not receive the rations regularly.
Nationwide, just 11 percent of children in the 6-23-month age group received a “minimum acceptable diet,” a combination of dietary diversity and minimum meal frequency, according to the fifth National Family Health Survey made during 2019-’21. In Uttar Pradesh, only 6% of children received a minimum acceptable diet.
However, in many districts of Uttar Pradesh, where 39% of children under five are short for their age, and 32% are underweight for their age: the number of rations anganwadis receive is lower than the number of recipients registered at the centers, anganwadi workers in several districts said IndiaSpend.
insufficient rations
Eight months ago, 23-year-old Roma Yadav gave birth to a baby boy, Shrishti, in the Lucknow village of Habibpur. When she was born, Shrishti weighed just 1.5kg, which is considered low birth weight, according to the World Health Organization. criteria (less than 2.5 kg at birth).
Therefore, the anganwadi worker in the village placed her in the “severely malnourished” category, and according to the regulations, within six months, Shrishti should have started receiving 1.5 kg of wheat daliya, 1.5 kg of rice, 2 kg of split chickpeas and 500 ml of cooking oil. .
“We have received rations only once in two months,” Yadav said. IndiaSpend. “The Anganwadi worker says they are getting fewer rations to distribute. God knows what the truth is.”
Distribution is a challenge
Workers in Anganwadi say they are receiving lower amounts of dry rations. Therefore, they have to choose how to distribute it among the beneficiaries, and often have to deal with the anger of the villagers.
“People unfairly blame us and say we are diverting rations intended for them,” said Urmila Maurya, an Anganwadi worker in Lucknow’s Habibpur village. “That’s not true. We distribute all the rations we receive.”
“I received rations for 66 people in May,” Maurya said. “There are 100 beneficiaries under me. These include 74 children between the ages of six months and three years, 22 pregnant and lactating women, and four severely malnourished children. Who do we give the rations to?
यूपी में दूर करने के उद्देश्य से आंगनवाड़ी के तहत Follow.
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To distribute rations to all anganwadi beneficiaries, Urmila distributed the May and June rations together. By doing this, she ensured that all families still received some rations. When the beneficiaries asked her about the amount, she told them that she had less ration to distribute.
Like Urmila, Geeta Pandey, an anganwadi worker in Chitauni village in Gorakhpur, also has to distribute less than the people’s fair share of rations. She receives rations for about half of the beneficiaries, or six of 12 pregnant women, 30 of 60 children aged six months to three years, and 16 of 48 children aged three to six years.
“We have to face a lot of difficulties,” Pandey said. “We have to pick and choose and distribute the rations to pregnant women. Every time, we have to tell them that we get less rations from the government.”
Data entry problems
In Uttar Pradesh’s over 1,80,000 Anganwadinearly 1.5 crore beneficiaries received dry rations through these anganwadi centers in July 2021, according to data provided to IndiaSpend for Uttar Pradesh Bal Vikas Seva Evam Pushtahar Vibhag. This number continues to fluctuate, so every three months new beneficiaries are added and names of those who are not eligible are removed from the list.
“There are enough rations. Every three months, we take stock of the situation and provide the list of beneficiaries to our suppliers,” said Sarika Mohan, director of UP Bal Vikas Seva Evam Pushtahar Vibhag.
“We’ve found that some district program officers don’t take data entry work seriously, which is why we’re dealing with this problem,” Mohan said. She said they have written to districts and asked program officers to update the monthly progress report. But despite repeated requests, some district program officials won’t, she said, blaming these old records for the problem.
Recipients are still waiting
Previously, children used to get a mix of grains at anganwadi centers, called panjiri. But due to procurement and distribution irregularities, in September 2020, UP Uttar Pradesh Bal Vikas Seva Evam Pushtahar Vibhag reportedly ended the 29 year monopoly of the companies that would distribute this panjiri and decided to distribute dry rations with the help of women from self-help groups.
Under this new arrangement, it was decided to establish posthahar units in different districts, which would prepare daliya and distribute it to the anganwadis. Until they are established, the government said it would distribute dry rations through anganwadis.
However, the posthahar units are still under construction. The Uttar Pradesh State Livelihood Mission was to establish 204 units in 43 districts. IndiaSpend Dyed reported in September 2021 that after a year of the announcement of the scheme, only two units had been established, under the UN World Food Program.
Sarika Mohan, director of Uttar Pradesh Bal Vikas Seva Evam Pushtahar Vibhag, told us in September 2021 that poshahar distribution in 43 districts would start in three to four months. However, when contacted in July 2022, she said that the Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihoods Mission was responsible for activating the Poshahar Units. According to the information provided, 34 units were expected to be operational by the end of June.
Adeel Abbas, who heads the program at the Poshahar unit of the Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihoods Mission, said IndiaSpend in July: “Thirty-four posthahar units are ready. They will be operational in a month. Currently, we are in the process of purchasing rations and providing training to the women.”
This article first appeared on IndiaSpenda data-driven, public interest journalism nonprofit.
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