Bhubaneswar, July 18: Due to the death of 18 children on account of acute malnourishment, a task force to be initiated has been decided by the State Government for ensuing development of Nagada area in Jajpur district. R. Balakrishnan, the Development Commissioner informed after receiving the report that the task force will take care of the overall wellness of the area which would include health, roads, electricity and drinking water.
Henceforth, a nodal officer will be appointed in each section in order to review the work and the Revenue Divisional Commissioner will have to submit the progress report of every week. In the past, it’s revealed that 18 children have allegedly died suffering from malnutrition in the last three months in the mining area.
Notably, Nagada is located about 30 km from the Sukinda Chromite valley and more than 50 km from Kalinga Nagar Industrial Complex on a hill-top inside dense forest under the mineral- rich Sukinda block, having no access towards the village. The villagers need to move more than 15 km through a dense forest to reach the road in order to get the basic necessities.
Earlier, the Director of Woman and Children Development (WCD) department and the sub-collector had visited the Nagada village, a day after a team comprising members of State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) visited the village and and to prepare and provide Aadhar and ration cards for the residents of the remote village, the State government on Sunday had held a special camp at Deogaan School near the village.
An official had said that the special event had been organized to prepare Aadhar cards for the village residents as the people are uneducated and ignorant about government scheme and cannot even tell their parent’s name. A resident of Nagada, who came to the camp, said that they had been brought there for preparation of their Aadhaar cards. They have no ID cards and lack proper health care and education facilities. The government team, that had visited the village on Saturday, admitted lack of health care and communication facilities in the area and to take hold of the situation in the village, directed the Anganwadi workers and Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) who also supervised the camp.
