Government to form roadmap to address stunting in tribal children

NEW DELHI: Government will prepare a roadmap for improving access of tribal children to food, health and sanitation in view of high level of chronic under nutrition or stunting which contributes to one-third of under-five child deaths in India.

A national conclave, organized by Ministry of Tribal Affairs, government of Odisha and UNICEF, would be held to work out strategies for properly nourishing tribal children who suffer from chronic under-nutrition. The conclave will be held at Bhubaneswar on Jan 15 and 16.

The conclave will bring together frontline workers, practitioners, State and District officials from Departments of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe, Women and Child Development, Health ministry, representatives from the Tribal Research Institutes of various States.

"Together they will take stock of the nutrition situation of India's tribal children, discuss "what works and how" and how departments of various states can coordinate, contribute and collaborate for reducing stunting in India's tribal children.

The conclave will chart a road map for these states for improving access to food, nutrition, health and sanitation services for children in tribal pockets and solidify all stakeholders' commitment toward nourishing India's tribal children," said a statment by Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

Also, there will be efforts to identify implementation challenges in the National Tribal Policy and ensure better utilisation of Tribal Sub Plan budgets.

The states are Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.