Chief Minister Raghubar Das participated in the Run for Nutrition Marathon at Morhabadi on Sunday, launching the Rashtriya Poshan Abhiyan (National Nutrition Mission) in the State.

On the occasion he said, “Malnutrition is a big problem in our State and we need the support from all to fight it. It is the birth right of every child to get nutritious food. In our country we believe children to be an avatar of god. We offer sweets to god. The same money can be used to provide nutritious food to a child.  This will make the gods happy and children healthy."

The CM said that if children are healthy, the future Jharkhand will be strong and healthy. "Anganwadis plat a major role in overall development of children.  Keeping this is in mind the State government is working towards strengthening the Anganwadis through CSR. The workers at Anganwadi should have maternal feeling. They should understand their responsibility and work with honesty instead of doing something just for the sake of it," he said.

Appreciating the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi the CM said that he is not just a political leader but a social reformer. "He (PM) is dedicated towards ending the social evils. First he made the country clean and now he has started working towards making a healthy nation. We should all work towards making this mission a success,”  Das said.

The CM further said that instead of observing Poshan Mah (nutrition month), a Poshan Varsh (nutrition year) should be observed.

The National Nutrition Mission was launched across county on Sunday under which the nutrition month is to be observed from September 1 to 30.The National Nutrition Mission will monitor, supervise, fix targets and guide the nutrition related intervention across States.

The programme targets to reduce the level of stunting, under-nutrition, anaemia and low birth weight among new born.