Campaigners against malnutrition have urged the Government to restore Rs 200 per mother per day whose child is admitted in a Government run malnutrition treatment centre.
Till last financial year it was Rs 200 per mother per day at malnutrition treatment centre(MTC) but now it has been scaled down to just 100 rupees per mother per day.
A civil society activist Kishore Kumar Pandey said, “ This government is pro active and in this Poshan Maah of September there can be nothing as big as this restoration of old allowance to mothers of Rs 200 per day per mother whose kids are in MTC.”
Pandey said, “In MTC there come malnourished children of extreme poor families or children of such families which are migratory season based. In MTC it is the mother who spends her day and night with her malnourished child undergoing treatment as fathers are not allowed to spend their night with their children at MTC at night.”
In-charge of one such MTC located in Chainpur, Dr D P Keshri said, “Earlier it was Rs 200 per mother per day. Now it is Rs 100 per day per mother. It is government decision.”
Chainpur government run MTC has 15 beds but on an average 50 per cent remain vacant for the whole of the year. Full occupancy is when there is no agro activity as then only labour class families comes here to admit their children for nutrition doses.
Commenting upon this the civil society activist Pandey said, “Less occupancy does not mean that malnutrition cases are not around. It is that mothers/ fathers just do not know about this facility available at MTC where malnourished children get food free and mother100 rupees to buy food or cook food there in MTC.”
Jyoti Khalkho is the ANM at Chainpur MTC who said underweight children come here who start gaining weight in a couple of days time. This ANM referred to a case of Shruti Kumari who when admitted here at this MTC on 30.8.18 had weighed little less than 5 Kg but in a ten days time she has gained more than one and a half Kg weight.
Treated children do relapse as malnutrition again strikes and this situation arises when parents go uncared about their food.
Here MTC has some reservations for second or third term treatment of such relapsed episode as incharge D P Keshri said some mothers have made it their habit to reach here twice or thrice for lure of 100 rupees a day, better bed, free food and comfort for their child. Such relapsed cases are entertained here with caution.
There are two MTCs in Palamu one at Chainpur and the other at Japla. Treatment comes for 28 days only but a child and her mother are packed up from MTC after 20 or 21 days only claiming the child has gained sufficient weight but there is no word as to how the child will retain the weight or gain further. For this parents are asked to improve food for their treated child.
