Citizens Alliance calls for movement against malnutrition

Bhubaneswar, Jan 10 (UNI) The Citizens Alliance, comprising personalities from political, art and social fields, today gave a clarion call to all for addressing the nation's malnutrition issue.

The group, which visited two villages in Cuttack and made a surprise visit to a block during their brief stay in Orissa, told newspersons here that the issue of malnutrition should be made the centre stage of national consciousness and a national movement.

Members of Parliament, cutting across party lines, film, arts and media personalities, who toured the villages in Orissa to get a first hand information on the various ongoing projects concerning eradication of malnutrition, said they were satisfied with the Positive Deviance approach adopted by the Orissa government to check the malnutrition.

The Citizens Alliance, they said, would certainly recommend such a method to be adopted in other states to reduce the malnutrition, which now remained a grave problem with 47 per cent of the children below three years remaining underweight at the all India level.

Noted film director Shyam Benegal opined that the people should be sensitised about the effects of malnutrition through films, television serials and documentaries.

Congress Parliament Member Sachin Pilot said the group had visited Chambal valley in Madhya Pradesh and Thane in Maharashtra before visiting Orissa to find out successful and extreme cases to help the planners to prepare policy drafts to combat the problem more effectively.

BJD Parliament Member Baijant Panda said the group would make field visits in another three to four states to study the various programmes and initiative taken by the machineries in combating the problem of malnutrition.

UNI DP LL SBC RAI2115