On 17th March 2021, the Government of Jharkhand launched the SAAMAR (Strategic Action for Alleviation of Malnutrition and Anemia Reduction) campaign to tackle acute malnutrition in children and women in the state.
- The SAAMAR campaign is launched with a target of 1000 days, under which an annual survey will be conducted to track the progress.
- For the implementation of the SAAMAR campaign, a provision of Rs.1 lakh will be given to every panchayat.
Aim:
- To identify anaemic women and malnourished children in Jharkhand
- To bring together various departments to effectively tackle the issues of the state related to malnutrition.
Malnutrition in Jharkhand:
i.According to the National Family Health Survey-4 data, every 2nd child in Jharkhand is stunted and underweight, every 3rd child is affected by stunting and every 10th child is affected from severe wasting and around 70% of children are anaemic.
ii.The Economic Survey quoted The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey conducted from March to July 2017 indicates the status of undernutrition.
iii.The survey stated that based on the sample data around 36% of children under the age of 5 are stunted, 29% are affected from wasting-weight for height, and 45% are underweight.
SAAMAR Campaign:
Features of SAAMAR:
i.Various departments like the Rural Development Department and Food and Civil Supplies will work together.
ii.This will also target the primarily vulnerable tribal Groups since there is no research-based information on their food and nutritional habits.
iv.This encourages research on the nutritional behaviours of these tribal groups for effective implementation.
Proposed strategies of SAAMAR:
i.To tackle acute malnutrition in children, the children with malnutrition will be identified through the Anganwadi centres and these children will be treated at the malnutrition treatment Centres.
ii.Similarly the anaemic women will also be listed and they will be referred to the health centers in serious cases.
iii.These will be done by measuring Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) of women and children through MUAC tapes and Edema levels.
iv.Angawadi’s Sahayia and Sevika will take the identified children and women to the health centre and they will be registered on the State Nutrition Mission portal.
Implementation:
i.The SAAMAR campaign will start with every panchayat which will be treated as a unit.
ii.Nurtition Sabhas will be conducted and the mukhiyas will work with every Anganwadi Sevika, Sahayika, Poshan Sakhi, School Management Committee President, Jal Sahiya among others.
iii.The Panchayat Secretariat will hold the colour coded boards of the nutritional condition of every village.
iv.A social audit will be conducted following which the panchayat will get the tag of ‘malnutrition free panchayat’.
Recent Related News:
On January 27, 2021 Cargill in collaboration with the United Nations World Food Programme(UNWFP) and Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) launched a programme to improve nutrition status in Jaipur, Rajasthan.
i.The program is supported by the Department of Women & Child Development, Government of Rajasthan.
ii.It is aligned with the Government of India’s National Nutrition Strategy and the Poshan Abhiyan.
About Jharkhand:
Chief Minister– Hemant Soren
National Park– Hazaribagh National Park, Betla National Park
