A Mobile
App named " BANMALI "
Hindustan
Times ( 15 Sept 2016 ) carried following news :
"
Pankaja Munde’s dept wants to replace
hot meals with ready-to-eat food packets
"
Pankaja Munde, is now looking to
replace the concept of hot cooked meals provided under the Centre’s Integrated
Child Development Scheme (ICDS) for children under 6 years, with THR-like ready-to-eat premixed food packets.
This means that instead of the “khichdi”
(a mix of dal and rice) prepared locally
by village communities or self help groups,
anganwadis – government run child care
centres – will be provided with certain kinds of ready-to-eat packets to prepare and serve the children.
If cleared, the state government may once
again run foul of the apex court orders that have reiterated that children under six should be served hot meals
prepared locally by village communities or self help groups.
She said there was no question of
awarding contracts to any company. “As per the Food
Security Act, food contracts can only be given to women sansthas, self help groups.’’
In the past, the apex court has slammed
the state for favouring big contractors through
self help groups. A lot would depend on how the proposal is finalised
and how the tender is drafted to award these contracts.
“Our experience with the THR tender is
that the state government is keen on pushing women self help groups out in the
name of hygiene. That’s why they have insisted on a fully automated machinery to prepare such food packets.
The hot cooked meal segment has a much larger scope with annual
tenders worth over thousands of crores. If the concept shifts to these
premixes, then similar tenders will be issued and the same five to six firms will get the biggest chunk of the
contracts,’’ said a women self help group member and activist, who did not wish
to be quoted.
She said that nearly one lakh self-help groups were involved in preparing
of such meals, who did not stand a chance to continue if the government
insisted on extrusion technology (fully
automated process) and having in-house laboratories as in the case of
THR contracts.
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I suppose everyone wants to support / encourage self help groups
of women
But you have to only visit the kitchens of these groups to
convince yourself of the terrible hygienic conditions under which the mid-day
meals get cooked !
Maharashtra State just does not have the number of Inspectors to
inspect 88,272 AanganWadis !
We are talking of health of 86.31 lakh
children in Maharashtra alone !
All over the country , there must be SEVERAL
CRORE children covered under ICDS
scheme
It would benefit all the States - and the Centre - to consider
my suggestion for a COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION
of malnutrition among children thru implementation of Mobile App " BANMALI " , described below :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16 Sept 2016
www.hemenparekh.in /
blogs
hemen
parekh
Marol
, Mumbai , India
(
M ) +91 - 98,67,55,08,08
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