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My latest Ground Zero report from Jhunjhunu and Churu in today's @the_hindu that attempts to put faces to the massive data problems of the Poshan Abhiyaan exactly 1000 days after the PM launched it in Jhunjhunu. Edited by @radhikasan https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/how-dearth-of-data-killed-a-healthy-diet/article33253449.ece
The pict by @vvkrishnan shows a young child dipping Parle G biscuits in a bowl of water. His aunt is due for delivery in a month and an uncertain future awaits the newborn whose mother is anaemic & has had four blood transfusions.She has been surviving on chapatis + chilli paste
The three breadwinners work at stone quarries and work was shut for three months. The family has been surviving on 10kgs of wheat from PDS. If the men get work, they buy some sugar, milk and pulses for consumption in evening - "there is barely enough to last us a day".
Afsana hasn't been registered for PMMVY (maternity benefit for 1st child).Her take home ration from anganwadi has come only for 4 of the 8 months, which too has been marred by supply chain issues.The entire family deep in hunger consumes the ration meant for Afsana and her foetus
Poshan Abhiyan's expensive nutrition data system and (the world's biggest one) could have helped track these deficiencies and enabled block and District officials to plug the gaps. But, lo and behold, the server crashed 2 months back!
Even before that, the data was under lock and key - unavailable for analysis by nutrition & public health experts and even States from where it was being collected
This has once again highlighted the need for decentralisation - trg and equipping anganwadi workers and panchayat committees to monitor and trouble shoot, since anyway it will fall eventually on their shoulder and not some programme officer sitting in a distant AC office! (ends)
Some photos from our trip courtesy @vvkrishan for @the_hindu @THNewDelhi. This is Derwala Village in Jhunjhunu
Anganwadi at Derwala Village in Jhunjhunu
