Supreme Court’s special team verifies malnutrition complaint in UP village

ALLAHABAD - A special team of the Supreme Court has verified reports of malnourishment in Ganne village of Uttar Pradesh’s Allahabad District.

The conditions have been found to be very poor, as the villagers have no employment and no source of income.

The committee has called for providing means of livelihood to the villagers.

“The budget of the Gram Panchayat (Village Council) is one lakh rupees but on an average, the budget for the Uttar Pradesh Gram Panchayat is coming out to be 10 lakh rupees. There is an urgent need of work. It is difficult as it is a rocky area but the government needs to find an alternative because they do not have any other means of living.

The condition of nutrition is very bad. If a 10-year-old boy weighs10-15 kg, it is a case of Severe Acute Malnourishment. This is not only malnutrition but in medical terms, we say SAM, Severe Acute Malnourishment. There should be a different type of malnourishment programme,” said Arundhati Dhruv, a member of the Supreme Court’s committee.

The committee also found that schemes like Anganwadi or Mid-day Meal are not being implemented there.

Schools, including the ones that do implement the Angandwadi scheme, are five to six km away, making it very difficult for children to go there. The committee will submit their report to the Supreme Court shortly.

Responding to media reports that Ganne’s villagers had to survive on eating mud and stones, the district administration has said that such was not the case, and that no one is “dying of hunger”.

The administration however, added that the situation is under control. (ANI)