Centre to provide nutritious food to all children: Renuka

Hyderabad, Jan 18 (UNI) Announcing that the Centre would implement a scheme to provide nutritious food to all children during the 11th Plan period, Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury today called upon all states to provide grant to implement the Integrated Child Development Scheme.

Inaugurating the fourth National Conference of the All India Anganwadi Workers Federation (AIAWF) affiliated to All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), she said the Centre would set up a Rs 10,000 crore corpus fund for the purpose of providing nutritious food to children.

Lamenting that many states were using the services of Anganwadi workers for carrying out survey and other election-related works without paying them any extra money, she said the Centre would provide a fund for benefit of Anganwadi workers if the states contributed an equal amount.

Expressing concern over large-scale female foeticide, she said the Centre would initiate a scheme during the 11th Plan by which the government would look after girl children of those parents, who were not in a position to bring them up.

The government would also involve multinational corporations in a big way to implement social welfare programmes, she said, adding recently, McDowells had come forward to contribute money to perform eye operations for needy children.

AIAWF General Secretary Amarjeet Kaur said the AIAWF would step up agitations to press for regularisation of Anganwadi workers besides social security, pension and medical insurance.

UNI