Khliehriat, Dec 9: To celebrate the contribution of frontline workers towards improving the nutritional and health indicators of Women and Children in the District, the Social Welfare Department, Government of Meghalaya in collaboration with the District Administration, East Jaiñtia Hills District, and the Meghalaya State Rural Livelihood Society on Friday organized a District Convention of Frontliners in Khliehriat West Playground.
Minister of Social Welfare Department, Kyrmen Shylla, graced the occasion as the Chief Guest and launched the CM-CAREs (Comfort, Assist, Respect, Empower) Scheme in the District in the presence of I.W. Ingty, Secretary to the Social Welfare Department, Government of Meghalaya, A. Baranwal, Deputy Commissioner, D. D. Shira, Director of Social Welfare Department.
Addressing the gathering, Shylla informed that the Chief Minister of Meghalaya Conrad .K. Sangma has launched the CM-CAREs (Comfort, Assist, Respect, Empowerment) Scheme to financially help senior citizens, single mothers, and people with disabilities. He also stated that the Government of Meghalaya has taken steps to reduce SAM & MAM among children in the state. “With the collaborative effort and hard work of the Officers of the Health Department, Social Welfare Department, Education Department, and other line departments, the state has achieved more than 90 percent of recovery of SAM and MAM among children,” he said.
Speaking on the process of rice fortification, he said the rice was allotted by the Social Welfare Department from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and it is sent to Delhi for fortification that includes the addition of key vitamins and minerals to improve their nutritional content after which thorough testing is done and brought back to the state for distribution through ICDS and the Anganwadi centers to the beneficiaries in every district.
The minister also stressed on the importance of creating awareness on the various social welfare schemes, which also requires the active participation of Government officers, ASHA, Anganwadi workers and community leaders. He also urged the gathering to visit the government departments and offices in the district for information regarding the various schemes and benefits available to them.
Earlier, G. Nengnong, Consultant, Poshan Abhiyan, in his introductory speech informed that in September 2020 the state along with the rest of the country undertook an extensive drive to identify and track SAM & MAM children. Through the drive, the state identified about 16,327 MAM Children and 1,788 SAM Children and by February 2021 the state achieved above 95 percent recovery rate. He also informed that National Family Health Survey 6 (NHFS) will start in the month of March 2023. He hoped that all the districts in the state take a very proactive steps to ensure that more than 80 to 90 percent of the children in the Anganwadi centres get their growth monitored on a regular basis and due interventions are given to them.
In appreciation of the efforts made by AWW, Mini AWW, AWW Helper, the Social Welfare Minister also announced the enhancement of incentives to the AWWs. The enhancement for the AWW is Rs. 1500, Mini AWW is Rs. 750 and for AWW Helper is Rs.500 with effect from 1st October 2022.
During the programme, Shylla also distributed ID Cards to CM-CAREs Beneficiaries of the District. Award for the Best Anganwadi Center was presented by the Minister to Rymbai Pompyrthad Anganwadi Centre. Field Functionaries consisting of Anganwadi worker, Anganwadi Helpers and Village Organisations in the District were also felicitated during the programme for their collaborative effort in reducing SAM and MAM.
Y. Najiar, DPO, ICDS, spoke about the roles, responsibilities and steps taken by the Anganwadi Workers, ASHA workers, and SHGs under MSRLS to reduce the MAM and SAM among Children.
