Bhopal. The state facing malnutrition would have to be ready to face genetically modified BT breeds.

This is the observation of hundreds of workers of social organisations gathered in the capital on the occasion of World Food Day. They announced war against malnutrition and genetically modified crops. Right to Food Campaign Group and Samvad organised a workshop in the capital on Threat of Malnutrition and Resulting Risks. Parents of dead children and social workers Dr Narendra Gupta, Sachin Jain, Birat Patnaik, Dr Ajay Khare joined. On this occasion the organisations also released a declaration against malnutrition.

Struggle against Malnutrition: According to the voluntary organisations fighting for right to food and against malnutrition, nearly 1.30 lakh children in the state die in the first year of their lives. Out of these 60 per cent children die because of malnutrition. According to the organisation, 97,223 infants have died up between April 2005 and July 2008.

Children 5, Earning Rs 30 a Day: Losing her child to malnutrition, Shanti Devi reached here from Ram Nagar Satna to awaken the government. Her husband does not work much and she herself worked in the fields. The family has five children and the average earning of the family varies from Rs 30 to Rs 50 a day.

Anganwadis are in such a bad condition that food is available only for six months in a year. Job card made under the Employment Guarantee Scheme is with the panchayat secretary and even in that only half of money has been given. When she went for treatment of her child, she was told that the child was anaemic and blood would have to be transfused. Since she did not have money, the doctor refused. After a few days, the child died.

Condition of the State Dangerous in Starvation

The leader of Opposition Jamuna Devi has termed the condition of starvation in the state as dangerous. Quoting report of the International Food Policy Research Institute and California University, she said Madhya Pradesh topped  the 12 states where hunger was at its worst. Alleging deep corruption in schemes like supplementary nutrition, Jamuna Devi has demanded judicial probe into it.

Data Belong to the Congress Government

The State Government has said that the data reported in the report of the International Food Policy Research Institute belonged to the Congress regime. It has been stated in a release that the leader of opposition leveled hasty allegations because the report contained data for the year 2004-05, meaning that the survey would have been done before that. The government has termed it as acceptance by the then Deputy Chief Minister and Women and Child Development Minister Jamuna Devi.

Major Facts

• According to NFHS-3, just 40.3 per cent children immunised in the state
• Nearly 14 lakh children severely malnourished
• Only 30 per cent women and 16 per cent children benefited from ICDS schemes
• 4,168 tribal locations still out of the scheme coverage
• Rs 1.44 given for treatment under anganwadi centre
• Instead of Rs 320 crore, Rs 1,320 needed for ICDS
• During 2007-08, the government spent only Rs 212.89 crore against allocated Rs 255.54 crore, meaning that just Rs 1.55 were spent against Rs 2 on nutrition per child

Genetically Modified Crops Carrier of Diseases

Bhopal. Amidst increasing food crisis, danger of genetically modified crops is threatening food. Colloquially known as BT, this crop is set to arrive first as BT brinjal. It may be emphasised that after BT Cotton, crops like BT brinjal and BT potato are ready for arrival. Social worker Kavita Kuruganti arriving on Thursday form Hyderabad gave information about dangers from BT breed. According to Kuruganti, by carrying out gene modification by injecting viruses in plants, not only environment is adversely affected, but also humans were afflicted with dangerous diseases. These include haemorrhage, boils in liver and kidneys, weak digestion, ulcer, cancer, etc.