Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. (File photo/News18)
”Ram Lalla is going to be installed in his own temple on January 22 after 500 years. Prior to this historic occasion, the work of providing nutritious meals, on the lines of mid-day meals, to children aged three to six years in the state started from Ayodhya, signifying an auspicious beginning,” Adityanath said
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday launched a meal scheme to provide hot and nutritious food to children aged three to six years at Anganwadi centres across the state. Inaugurating the ’Hot Cooked Meal Scheme’ at the Composite School in Ayodhya, Adityanath said, Well-nourished and healthy children will become the basis of a strong India. The chief minister was on a visit to the holy town.
”Ram Lalla is going to be installed in his own temple on January 22 after 500 years. Prior to this historic occasion, the work of providing nutritious meals, on the lines of mid-day meals, to children aged three to six years in the state started from Ayodhya, signifying an auspicious beginning,” Adityanath said. He also laid the foundation stone of 3,401 Anganwadi centres in 35 districts at a cost of Rs 403 crore and inaugurated a transit hostel for police personnel in Ayodhya Reserve Police Lines, an official statement said.
Adityanath highlighted that the initiative to provide hot meals with diverse menus on different days will progress with the mutual coordination of various departments. He also drew attention to the successful eradication of encephalitis in eastern UP stressing that with inter-departmental coordination, the disease which claimed the lives of 50,000 children in 40 years, was controlled within four years, the statement said.
The chief minister said that there are 1.90 lakh Anganwadi centres operating in the state, with more than two crore registered beneficiaries. These centres provide six types of services. For the first time in the state, the auspicious work of providing hot cooked meals to 80 lakh children aged three to six years is being started, the statement said. Addressing the Anganwadi workers and helpers present at the programme, the chief minister said, Children are form of God. You are fortunate because, like Yashoda Maa in the Dwapara yuga, who nurtured Krishna in his childhood, you are serving and taking health and nourishment responsibility of hundreds of ’Kanhas’, contributing to the basis of a strong India. It is your fortune that you have got this opportunity. Adityanath said there were many questions about the nutrition schemes in the past but significant improvements have been made in the last seven years. However, he said that there is still room for further improvement, and continuous efforts are required. Healthy children are not only the responsibility of the Women and Child Development Department, but the Panchayati Raj and Urban Development Departments should also be involved in it, he added.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed –