Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has on Monday launched YSR Sampoorna Poshana and YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus schemes to provide nutritious food to pregnant women, lactating mothers and children.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said malnutrition among the vulnerable section will be brought down by the two schemes. About 30.16 lakh mothers and children will be benefited from the two schemes.
Anganwadis would hereafter serve as pre-primary I and pre-primary II schools laying a strong foundation for the first standard where the medium of instruction would be in English.
Untouchability has taken a different form with the opposition to English Medium in government schools from primary level though those who oppose have been sending their kin to preparatory and kindergarten schools, he said.
The 55,607 Anganwadis will hereafter be not just shelter homes but will impart bridge courses and prepare the children to enter the schools with basics besides having nutritious food, he said.
Prevalence of anaemia
Over 52.9 per cent of the pregnant women across the State are suffering from acute anaemia, while 31.9 per cent of children are having low birth weight and 31.4 per cent of the children are suffering from stunted growth.
In order to address malnutrition and anaemia among pregnant and lactating mothers and children aged between 6-72 months, the State government has brought YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus and YSR Sampoorna Poshana schemes to provide supplementary nutrition through Anganwadi centres.
While YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus is intended to supply nutritious food exclusively in 77 Tribal areas covering 8,320 Anganwadi Centres, the remaining urban and rural areas will be covered under YSR Sampoorna Poshana. As many as 30.16 lakh pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children belonging to BPL families will be benefited from this initiative, where the State government is spending ₹1,863 Crore per annum.
The schemes involve an expenditure of ₹1,100 per beneficiary every month. In order to monitor the effective implementation , the Department of Women Development and Child Welfare has developed a comprehensive mobile application to assess the service delivery and satisfaction levels of the beneficiaries.