SC: Nutritional food 6 months to 3 yrs old children

The Supreme Court has directed all the State and Union Territories to implement the directions of the Union Government to provide supplementary nutrition food to all children in age group of 6 months to 3 years and also to severely underweight children in the age group of 3 o 6 years. A bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and S H Kapadia issued the directions yesterday which include providing additional nutritional food to pregnant women and lactating mothers. The apex court also directed all the states and Union Territories to provide supplementary nutrition in the form of morning snack and a hot cooked meal to the children in the age group of 3 to 6 yrs and also to ensure that guidelines contained in the letter of Union Government are implemented latest by December 31, 2009. The court in its judgment noted ‘As far as adolescent girls are concerned, they would continue to be covered by the entitlements of the Nutritional Programme for Adolescent Girls (NPAG) and Kishori Shakti Yojana (KSY) till such time as a comprehensive universal scheme for the empowerment of adolescent girls called the Rajiv Gandhi scheme for the empowerment of adolescent girls is implemented within 6 months from the date of the order. It shall however, be ensured that the following directions by order dated October 7, 2006, which was reiterated by order dated June 13, 2008, shall continue to be operative. It is pointed out that several states like Andhra Prasesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Nagaland have not met the requisite norms. These states are directed to take steps as required to be taken. Compliance reports to be filed by all the States and Union Territory by January 15, 2010.’ There are about 14 lakh Anganwadi centres in the country.

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