Sameer Showkin Lone
Bijapur, (INDIA): With 85 percent ST population whose main livelihood depends on minor forest produce and agriculture, Bijapur district, a heavily Naxalite affected region, has been continuing its fight against acute malnutrition among children.
Some 480 Kilometers from Chhattisgarh's capital city Raipur, the Bijapur district faces multiple challenges; being the worst affected by Naxalism that has taken a heavy toll on overall development and second, being the sloppiest in terms of malnutrition among children, anaemia among females.
To curb the increasing malnutrition rate that had touched 40 percent in 2019, the district administration under Aspirational District Programme came up with an idea of Suposhit Bijapur. Bijapur is also among the 112 Aspirational Districts listed by NITI Aayog.
To fight the increasing malnutrition, the district administration thought of introducing millets in Anganwadi centers. But it was not an easy task as the district needed a huge quantity of millets to feed its 30000 children registered in Anganwadi centers. Although millets locally called Ragi or Madiya, was once a staple food in the region, it had gone off the plate with the advent of paddy cultivation.
"Millets were available in some limited areas of the district which the farmers would cultivate for their household use. So for a sustained programme aimed at eradicating malnutrition, it was not sufficient," said Satyajeet Singh, Assistant Director, Agriculture Department.
While the district administration was keen for the revival of millets anticipating the introduction of the magic cereals would do some magic to help in eradicating the increasing malnutrition from the district.
As per a study, millets are also called Power House of Nutrients. They are a rich source of minerals like iron, calcium, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium, hence called magic millets.
The Suposhit Bijapur campaign was launched with an aim to make Bijapur free from malnutrition. It was an inter-departmental convergence campaign with Agriculture, Horticulture, ICDS having a major role under the leadership of District Collector to set up kitchen gardens and production of millets locally.
"First we started with setting up kitchen gardens (poshan badi) in Anganwadi centers. Wherever it was not possible to set up a kitchen garden in Anganwadi Center it was set up on house premises of Anganwadi workers/ helpers. It would not have been possible without the support of Horticulture and Agriculture Departments who provided seeds and necessary handholding. A strong inter-departmental convergence was done to make this initiative a successful one. It helped us to diversify the food plate and we were able to provide meals to children thrice in a day. Under the CMs Suposhan Abhiyan, which was launched around the same time, came as a blessing in disguise for the district. Through the Suposhan Abhiyan we provided eggs, fortified biscuits and peanuts to children that helped us to further diversify the menu," said District Program Officer, Mr Lupendra.
"A rigorous work started at the village level to reach out to the local community through Sarpanchs and Panchs to sensitise them about the need to provide better nutrition to children. It was also about behavioural change in food habits. Those sectors were identified where the malnutrition rate was higher," he said.
Cultivating Ragi:
The locals consume Ragi in the form of soup, which they call Pej in the local language. But, the Ragi was not available in bulk as its cultivation over the years had gone down considerably. "In June-July 2019, it was planned to create master trainers and procure ragi seeds to be distributed among farmers. The training was given to farmers about how ragi can be cultivated through modern methods that give more produce," said Dr Sakni of Krishi Vighyan Kendra at Bijapur.
According to Dr Sakni, in the first phase, some 200 farmers were roped in for cultivating ragi in their land.
By the end of Oct-Nov, the district had ample production of millets available. "It helped in two ways. The farmers got additional income by cultivating Ragi which was procured by the District administration for Anganwadis. The model of locally produced and locally consumed helped to make it a sustainable one. Now we don't rely on outside supply. More and more farmers are adopting the Ragi cultivation," said Mahinag.
On the other hand, the district administration expanded its bed strength in its four Nutritional rehabilitation Centers (NRCs) to treat its children under Severe Acute Malnutrition. The SAM children are admitted to the NRC for 15 days where intensive feeding is given to the children to recover lost weight, development of emotional & physical stimulation. "We increased the Bed Occupancy Rate. But I also came across a different problem. People living in some areas with no roads didn't come to NRCs despite providing vehicles. Actually they don't want to stay in NRC for 15 days due to their lifestyle reasons. So we made an alternative method. Those who didn't come to NRCs, we took a virtual NRC to that village. Only what was done by the local SHC and PHC was asked to monitor the children while the Anganwadi supervisor and worker was trained by the NRCs. This helped us to reach out to more and more children who were under Severe or Medium Acute Malnutrition," said then District Collector Bijapur, Ritesh Kumar Agrawal.
In NRCs, the children are under constant supervision of a doctor and are given formula based food. The F-75 is a starter formula used during initial management of malnutrition, beginning as soon as possible and continuing for 2-7 days until the child is stabilized. Severely malnourished children cannot tolerate normal amounts of protein and sodium or high amounts of fat. They may die if given too much protein or sodium. They also need glucose, so they must be given a diet that is low in protein and sodium and high in carbohydrates.
After a successful programme for two years, which still continues with further expansion, the figures speak for themselves. In March 2021, the district increased the number of children in Anganwadi centers to 30255 and the number of malnourished children has come down to 8000, which is a decline of remarkable 12 percent.
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