Ranchi, Jharkhand 29 January 2015 :: Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das along with MP from Bihar (Rajyasabha) Haribansh, Chief of field service, UNICEF India Carrie Auer and other during a programme on ‘ Vision for Jharkhand’ an agenda for development, in Ranchi on Thursday.
Stating that Kuposhan is unacceptable, Jharkhand Chief Minister, Raghubar Das said Jharkhand will be made ‘Kuposhan Mukt’ state within 5 years. He said a State Nutrition Mission headed by the Chief Minister will be set up in Jharkhand to address the issue with a multi-sectoral approach. The mission will be a centralised agency not only for prevention of malnutrition but also for treatment of malnutrition. He added that the mission will monitor the initiative to address malnutrition at state, district and block level.
The Chief Minister said that about 14,000 poshan sakhis will be appointed in the state. He announced that all 8 lakh pregnant women will be provided with maternity benefit of Rs. 6,000 per year.
The Chief Minister was speaking at the day long ‘Vision for Jharkhand – An Agenda for development’ strategic conclave organized by UNICEF Jharkhand and Prabhat Khabar in Ranchi today.
Harivansh [ Chief Editor, Prabhat Khabar ] said, a state will develop only when its women and children are given every opportunity for development and are educated. This conclave has provided a platform for all to come together and deliberate on issues that have a direct impact on the lives of the women and children of the state. And laid the foundation for the creation of a strong, progressive and developed Jharkhand.
Job Zachariah [ Chief UNICEF Jharkhand ] said that Jharkhand is one of the richest regions in the world with mineral resources worth Rs. 200 lakh crores. Jharkhand also has huge resources of Jal, Jangal & Jameen. “However, Jharkhand can progress only if the state urgently addresses 5 issues around health, nutrition, education, safe water, sanitation and child protection with highest priority. These issues relate to reducing malnutrition among children, reducing child mortality, eliminating open defecation, ensuring quality education for all children and ending child marriage, child labour & child trafficking.”
Carrie Auer [ Chief of Field Services, UNICEF ] assured all support to the state government to address these 5 priority areas.
Mridula Sinha [ Principal Secretary, Government of Jharkhand ] said that education of girls is the magic bullet that will address several issues including malnutrition, neonatal mortality, child labour & child marriage.
Principal Secretary, Drinking Water & Sanitation A P Singh said that 500 gram panchayats will be made open defecation free this year. Shashi Ranjan Singh [ DC Jamtara ] suggested that there is a need for establishing a system to monitor accountability of government officers at all levels.
S N Pradhan [ AD CID ] & Meena Sampat [ IG CID ] spoke in detail about the strategies to preventing child labour, child trafficking and child marriage.
Dhir Jhingran, national expert on education; Dr. Karanveer Singh, Nutrition Specialist, UNICEF Delhi; Dr. Prasanta Tripathy, Ekjut made presentations during the conclave.
The conclave presented recommendations for improvement in the 5 areas to the Chief Minister in the plenary session.
Around 150 participants representing government departments; NGOs, corporates, panchayati raj members and universities attended the meeting among others.
Lensman :: Ratan Lal, Ranchi
