NHRC seeks Centre, Jharkhand reply after report exhibits ICDS gaps

Taking suo motu cognisance of a report which identified that 55 per cent beneficiaries in 159 blocks had not obtained supplementary diet underneath the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) in Jharkhand, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Tuesday requested the state and the Centre to submit a report inside six weeks.
“The Indian Express had reported on the ICDS survey findings which had covered a total of 8,818 families in 159 blocks,” the NHRC said.
“The contents of the media report, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of the Right to Food, which is one of the basic human rights, which the state is duty bound to protect…”

The report was revealed on the idea of a survey masking 7,809 youngster beneficiaries aged 6 months to three years, 6,560 aged 3 years to six years and 4,459 pregnant and lactating ladies.
Ashrafi Nand Prasad, a part of the survey group, stated, “It seems that nutritional supplements worth more than 200 crore were not given to the beneficiaries.”