UP govt expands its budget for nutrition scheme

The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to expand the ambit of its nutrition scheme to include 260 lakh children up to the age of six years in the state.

"So far, the scheme included only 98 lakh children, in the seven months to six years age group. But on the Centre's directions, the government has decided to widen the scope of the scheme," Balvindar Kumar, secretary, women and child development, said.

"The government has decided to increase the departmental budget from Rs 625 crore to Rs 1,100 crore in this regard. Both Centre and state government would share Rs 250 crore each," he added.

Under the scheme, every child would be given 80 gram of nutritious food which includes wheat flour, soya flour, sugar, vitamins and minerals a day. "Besides, free vaccinations, medical check-ups, health education and pre-school education will be provided to them," he added.

He further said that in order to cover all the beneficiaries, the government has decided to increase the existing number of anganwari to 1,38,000, with the work of 34,000 new centres starting on June 15.