Bhubaneswar: Odisha will kickstart the Ojan Utsav, a biennial event, from this month in an effort to streamline the process of monitoring growth of children in the 0-5 years age group in Anganwadi centres in a supervised manner. The move is aimed at correctly recording the level of malnutrition in the state’s hinterland.
Officials of the Odisha women and child development department said during Ojan Utsav (weight measurement day) in Anganwadi centres, the supervisors of the Integrated Child Development Scheme will be directly part of the weighing/growth monitoring and promotion process enabling the Anganwadi workers in developing a better understanding on growth monitoring and proper use of measuring instruments.
“During the Ojan Utsav to be held sometime this month, Poshan tracker used by Anganwadi workers will be used to enter growth monitoring data along with other input methods. The data will be validated and compared at the CDPO, DSWO and state level to observe the trends. Community mobilization, information to mothers will be the key components of Ojan Utsav,” a senior official of the department said.
The decision to start the weighing of children in Anganwadi centres in a campaign mode comes amid the release of data of the National Family Health Survey-V last year which found at least 18.1 per cent of children in Odisha between 0 and 5 years to be suffering from acute malnutrition. Though, the NFHS-V data showed Odisha’s SAM numbers have come down from 20.4 in NFHS-IV to 18.1 per cent, the numbers are still a matter of concern.
An official of the WCD department said the process of weighing may be error prone if done by workers not adequately skilled and experienced. “In some Anganwadi centres, the Salter weighing scale may not be working properly, while in other centres, the Anganwadi workers may not be entering the data truthfully. Collecting good quality data on underweight children can give us a good indication of the levels of wasting and stunting as well,” said the official.
Nutrition specialist Basant Kar said the Ojan Utsav concept is a good step, but the government should follow-up on the nutrition requirement of the severely acute malnourished children after spotting them during such programmes. “While 15 per cent of severely acute malnourished children can be sent to nutrition rehabilitation centres, the rest can be placed in community care. The Ojan Utsav, however, could be better organised if held in individual villages instead of Anganwadi centres for better monitoring,” said Kar.
