A report by FSSAI has found that food materials supplied to Anganwadi centres in Karnataka were of substandard quality, even 'unsafe'. Officials have been booked and a fine levied in this regard.
Anganwadi centres serve thousands of children in Karnataka
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Food materials supplied to anganwadis substandard, even unsafe: FSSAI
- Concerned MSPTC officials booked under Section 56 of FSS Act, 2006
- A fine of ₹20,000 has also been levied on the concerned officials by FSSAI
Bengaluru: Months after Mirror Now exposed the sorry state of affairs of food material supplied to Anganwadi centres in the state of Karnataka, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has concluded that material of substandard quality was being used in the process. Concerned officials have also been booked in this regard under relevant sections of the FSS Act.
As the result of an independent examination, FSSAI's lab reports found out that sampled food items such as peanuts, soya mix, red chillies and mustard being supplied to Anganwadi centres were of substandard quality and even unsafe for consumption. For the same, concerned officials of the Mahila Supplementary Nutrition Production & Training Centres (MSPTC) have been booked under Section 56 of the Food Standards and Safety Act, 2006.
In addition, a fine of ₹20,000 has also been levied on the officials responsible for facilitating food materials to Anganwadi centres in Karnataka. The lab report also found out that the packing of these materials was done in a negligent and unscientific manner by MSPTC employees.
At the time, then Karnataka Women and Child Development Minister Jayamala had denied the claims made about the quality of food materials supplied by MSPTC to Anganwadi centres in the state. However, the FSSAI report has now established beyond a doubt that food materials used to cook meals for thousands of children were substandard and even unsafe for human consumption.
Meanwhile, malnutrition continues to be a problem in Karnataka which scores the worst in South India on several key parameters related to nutrition according to the National Family Health Survey, 2016. A 2018 report by the Centre for Policy Research had revealed that 26 per cent of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) beneficiaries in Karnataka were malnourished at the time.
Similar reports had surfaced in 2014 when the Public Health Institute had warned the then Karnataka government that as many as 29 of the 287 samples of food grains collected from various Anganwadi centres were 'unsafe'. While eight of these substandard, 115 were misbranded. In 2014, about 34000 children in the state were severely malnourished.
A recent report had revealed that as many as a dozen MLAs and two dozen MLCs currently serving the people of Karnataka have not even spent a paisa of area development funds for the betterment of their constituents. These funds are used for the construction of Anganwadi, schools and health care centres along with water conservation and other important civic issues.
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