Malnutrition to be eradicated from Madhya Pradesh in 1.5 yrs: CM Chouhan

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said malnutrition will be eradicated from the state in the next one or one-and-a-half years and the 'anganwadis' will soon become centres of children's nutrition and education.

Chouhan was speaking on Tuesday night after completing the drive to collects toys and other necessary materials for children in anganwadi centres (government-run centres for women and children) under the 'Adopt an Anganwadi' programme in the state.

"In the next one to one-and-a-half years, malnutrition will be completely eradicated from Madhya Pradesh and the anganwadis will soon become children's nutrition, education and cultural centres in the state," Chouhan said.

The CM on Tuesday evening embarked on the drive to collect toys and other study material by pushing a handcart in the Ashoka Garden area of the city.

Chouhah along with Bhopal in-charge minister Bhupendra Singh, state Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang and other officials moved around the area for about three hours, and they collected 10 mini-truckloads of toys, games, TV sets, coolers, water-camper, utensils, chairs, rugs and other items.

"People have so generously supported the move that my hands started paining while collecting so many things that the public gave for the anganwadi centres, Chouhan said.

The items collected will be distributed among 1,800 anganwadi centres in Bhopal district, he said.

The drive was also supported by celebrities, including actor Akshay Kumar, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi and noted poet Kumar Vishwas.

On the occasion, people also donated nearly Rs two crore towards the development of anganwadis, Chouhan said.

Akshay Kumar in a tweet said he will be donating Rs one crore and adopting 50 anganwadis in the state.

Chouhan said that the campaign, started from Bhopal, will become an inspiration for the entire state.

He also appealed to the people to visit anganwadi centres on their birthdays, anniversaries, in the memory of their parents, and serve food, sweets, milk and other things to the children there.

People will feel satisfied if children become healthy with their efforts, he added.