SCHEME FOR UNDERWEIGHT GIRLS IN U.P.

New Delhi, 25 October 2006

NEW DELHI, October 26 (INFA): The U.P. Government has implemented a new scheme for underweight and undernourished girls in the State’s tribal belt of Mirzapur and Sonebhadra districts.

According to the scheme, Nutrition Programme for Adolescent Girls (NPAG) of the State’s Women and Child Welfare Department, a teenaged girl weighing less than 35 kg. gets six kg of wheat for three months.

After the stipulated period of three months, the girls who avail of the scheme are weighed again and if they are found to be still underweight, the scheme is extended.

The project initially met with skepticism. Mirzapur District Programme Officer (DPO) Asha Rai said Anganwadi workers, who went door-to-door holding weighing machines provided by the Government, roused suspicion and hostility among parents who thought the girls would be struck with evil eye.

But wheat bags did the trick. Villagers not only overcame their resistance, but also started showing up with girls dressed in their best for check-up.

Suddenly a daughter in the family turned from another mouth to feed to a de facto bread earner.

But whether the wheat is actually helping the poor mouths it is actually supposed to benefit, is another issue. There is no way to ensure that the girls actually get to eat what they get.

Parents get touchy when asked how much it is helping the girls. Some claim that it is not possible to cook for one person and keep an exact account. We all know that the wheat is being shared by the entire family, but can’t do much, he added.

There are other shortcomings. The DPOs in both Mirzapur and Sonebhadra complained about erratic supply and periodic interruption in implementation.

Yet, on the whole, the scheme can easily be termed as one of the most successful pilot projects undertaken by the Department. Currently, the Scheme caters to 62,222 girls in the twin districts.

The actual weight-gain to the target population, according to the Department sources, is 25% and 40% in Mirzapur and Sonebhadra respectively.

Meanwhile, the girls underweight or otherwise are more than happy in their new found status. ---INFA