One is about use of
software Pegasus to snoop on unsuspecting citizen for unspecified / assumed
anti-national behaviors
Other is :
Over
9 Lakh Children Suffer Severely Acute Malnutrition, States Centre; 3.98 Lakh
From UP / Republic world
Extract :
Ø Over 9,27,606 children are Severely Acute Malnourished
in India as of 30 November 2020, revealed Union Mister for Women
and Child development Smriti Irani on Thursday, in a written reply to Rajya
Sabha.
Ø Irani further revealed that of the 9 lakh+
children, 3,98,359 are from the State of Uttar Pradesh. In reply to AAP MP Sanjay Singh, Irani stated that under the Integrated Child Development
Services (ICDS), supplementary nutrition is provided to these children.
Ø To counter malnourishment among children in the age group of 0-6 years, Irani stated
that the POSHAN
Abhiyaan was launched on 8th March, 2018. Under the newly launched Mission Poshan 2.0, Irani stated that pregnant women and
lactating mothers were focused upon to provide nutritional content.
Ø As per the data, while Rs 5312.79 crores have been released to
states/UTs from 2017-18 to 2020-21, only Rs. 2985.56 crores ( 56 % ) , have been utilised up to 31 March, 2021.
Dalit
Children more likely to be stunted, shows study /
TOI / 30 July
Extract :
Ø That India has the highest number
of stunted children in the world ( 40.6 million
children, as per NFHS data ) representing one-third of the global total of stunted children
under the age of five, is well known
Ø Now, a data narrative
published by Ashoka University’s Centre for Economic Data and Analysis shows
that stunting is much more likely
among Dalit children in areas where caste-based un-touchability is higher, such as
the BIMARU states ( Bihar-Madhya Pradesh-Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh )
Ø In their paper titled “ The Missing Piece of the Puzzle:
Caste Discrimination and Stunting “, authors Ashwini Deshpande and
Rajesh Ramchandran found that rates of stunting are far lower among upper caste
Hindus as compared to SC/STs, OBCs, UC Muslims
Ø The stunting incidence
was 26 % for children of upper caste Hindus as compared to 31 % of children in
SSA
Ø In comparison, 40 %
children belonging to SC / ST communities suffered from stunting, 36 % from OBC
communities and 35 % from the upper caste Muslim community
My Take :
Ø British ruled over India
for 150 years. Under leadership of Mahatmaji, it took us ( the public ), 20
years of fight to win our freedom
Ø Imagine, the only technologies used
were “ Non-Violence / Satyagraha /
Non-cooperation “
Ø Next year, under our own
– and democratically elected – rulers, we will celebrate 75th year of our
Independence
Ø But , we are not anywhere
near to win our “ Liberation “ from malnutrition ( - euphemism for starvation ) – despite
slogans like, “ Garibi Hatao / No child
will go to bed hungry “ etc
Ø In my opinion , this ( failure ) is a
matter of SHAME , far bigger than Pegasus !
Ø All the more so, because , those very same
MOBILE APP TECHNOLOGIES which power Pegasus , can be employed to liberate us
from malnutrition ( and, within 2 years – not 20 years )
Ø Following is the history of my efforts to
persuade our Policy Makers to use MOBILE technology to win this WAR against
malnutrition :
Ø Two
Indias ………………………………………………………………………[ 26 April 2011 ]
Extract :
# 435
million Indians [ 36 % of 1210 million
population ] are below
poverty line, unable to spend even Rs.12 ( $ 0.21 ) per day on food /
clothing / shelter
# For this “ Second “ India
comprising the remaining 36%, it is
starvation
from birth until death ! To them a GDP growth rate of 9 % makes no
sense !
Ø Agriculture
in China ………………………………………………………..[ 02 June 2011 ]
Extract :
# And , unlike India ,China does not
have 1.6 Million children ( under 5
) dying each
year due to starvation
( Indian Government likes to call it , “ Malnutrition “ )
Does any political party of India
have the courage to include “
Elimination of Starvation
“ in it’s election manifesto , for the
forthcoming National Election in 2014 ?
Extract :
We don’t have to become Jains in
order to save the starving millions. Just
don’t waste food
Extract :
# But
hunger is not an issue for any political party during the current
State
Elections.
How about promising “ hunger quotas “ according to age – groups ?
Model
Code of Conduct does not cover this !
==================================================
Extract :
#
That leaves 20 million who do not go to school , hopelessly
malnourished
How can we ensure that they get
some nutritious food everyday ?
If there is a will , there is a
way - the following way :
( A ) …. FOOD
( B )….. PACKING
( C )…… MANUFACTURERS
( D )…… DELIVERY POINTS
( E ) ……TECHNOLOGY
* Each NEUTRA-KID bar
wrapper will have a bar-code
( till such time
inserting RFID sensors become a reality )
* Bar code will carry all normal instructions +
Delivery Destination (
Post Office )
* Each NEUTRA-KID bar will pass thru a Bar Code Reader on the
Assembly Line , before
dispatch
* Info collected thru this reader will get transmitted to the Central
Server of
concerned Ministries
* After taking his / her
weight and entering in a online
Database ,
hosted
on the Central Server of the concerned Ministries,
each targeted child will get registered at the nearest Post Office
* Each registered child will
be issued a blue tooth enabled Smart
phone, duly
pre-installed with a Mobile App called " BANMALI "(
Banish Malnutrition in India ) , in which Child's data / Aadhar No
will be entered
* Every day , the concerned
child ( and parent ) will visit the post
office to collect the NEUTRA-KID bar
* Before handing over bar, child will be weighed on a weighing
machine
and the weight entered in BANMALI
The weight record graph will appear on the screen of the PC located
at
the Post Office ( Blue
Tooth )
* This record will also get transmitted (
of course , automatically ) to
the COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE where the concerned child is "
registered " ( this will be compulsory in order to be eligible for this
Scheme )
* Every time , a child is taken
for his/her monthly HEALTH CHECK UP (
also compulsory in order to receive next month's NEUTRA-KID bars )
, concerned doctor will examine the child and enter
his findings in BANMALI
Doctor will be required to enter medicines
prescribed as also, increase
/ decrease in the QUOTA of NEUTRA- KID bars recommended for the
next month
· All of these data will get relayed to the
Central Servers of the concerned
Ministries
·
Extract :
# All over the country , there must
be SEVERAL CRORE children covered
under ICDS scheme
# It would benefit all the States - and the
Centre - to consider my
suggestion for a COMPREHENSIVE SOLUTION of malnutrition among
children thru implementation of Mobile App " BANMALI "
Extract :
# Union minister for Women & Child Development Maneka Gandhi wants
to
put an end to children consuming empty calories. Instead, she wants them
to consume calories rich in nutrition, and her ministry wants to
have sachets containing 600-1000 calories of nutrition for children
# You
will notice that my proposal tightly integrates ALL the concerned
Agencies
through internet enabled hardware and a SINGLE /
COMMON software database , which not only prevents any
" Benefit Leakages " but broadcasts actual " Achievements " ( Weight gain
/ Reduced Mortality ), instantaneously , / automatically / transparently
=================================================
Extract :
#
The Akshaya Patra
Foundation, an NGO focussing on providing mid-day
meals to children, is
in talks with food companies to co-create nutritious
recipes and products that can supplement its offerings under the
government’s flagship scheme.
# For instance, with PepsiCo India, the NGO is
looking to co-create
an OATMEAL-BASED NUTRITIOUS BAR that can supplement mid-day
meals.
==================================================
Extract :
# For what ?
For accepting my suggestions ( all
sent as E Mails to Cabinet Ministers )
# How ?
By launching “ Poshan Abhiyan “
at the hands of Shri Modiji on 08 March 2018
# What is it ?
It is a nutrition
scheme that aims to reduce malnutrition among children and mothers
# How does it work ?
To
facilitate the functioning of this dashboard, over 200,000
smartphones
have been procured by the states to aid ‘anganwadis’ in monitoring nutrition
levels in children.
· THESE PHONES COME UPLOADED WITH AN APPLICATION THAT
FACILITATES REAL-TIME DATA REPORTING FROM THE GRASS- ROOT LEVEL
AND IS EXPECTED TO COME IN HANDY IN DRAWING A NUTRITION
PROFILE OF THE COUNTRY,
Extract :
# Last month, the Ministry of
Women and Child Development and the
Ministry of electronics and IT launched an ambitious data-driven platform
called POSHAN TRACKER, to daily monitor the activities of more than
1.1 million Anganwadi workers
# These
workers – spread across the country- are responsible for making sure
that
pregnant women, infant as well as young children get adequate hot
meals, rations, vaccine doses and medication
# They
are also responsible for ensuring early intervention in case of
disabilities or
flagging other developmental concerns
# Close to 1 million Anganwadi
workers have downloaded the Android App on
their smartphones and are using it DAILY, to key in EVERYDAY STATISTICS
# The
project was launched in JANUARY ( 2021 ), and
it went live in MARCH
# Since then, 10 LAKH workers have
been registered and more than 3
CRORE end beneficiaries have been registered
# EACH
DAY, data about vaccines and children’s
height, weight, MALNUTRITION along with details of
whether infrastructure such as toilets are present, is being uploaded
# Anganwadi
workers have to download the APP, which can even e integrated by
States for their own programs
in
this area
# The
DASHBOARD shows,
# Real
time data of the attendance of workers
# Number
of vaccines
# Hot
cooked meals
# Take-Home
Rations that are provided
It
can be broken down state and district wise
# Every
day, a VIDEO-CONFERENCE is held to address any issue faced by these
workers or
authorities while using the TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM
Related Readings :
Poshan Tracker Update: Find Out Why You Are
Unable To Login To The App [ 30 March 2021 ]
