CHHATTISGARH

The Chhattisgarh government has signed a MoU with the George Institute for Global Health, Australia, for five years for research on Malnutrition and non-communicable diseases.

Bhim Singh, Director of Health Services, and Prof Anushka Patel, Chief Executive Officer of the George Institute, signed the non-financial agreement, an official statement said on Wednesday.

George Institute will prepare a technical model by researching on malnutrition and non-communicable diseases in Chhattisgarh.

It will be an evidence-based model after field research. It will help in solving diseases caused by these problems.

Citing a report by Center for Monitoring Indian economy (CMI), the said thatChhattisgarhs Unemployment rate at 3%, is much less than the national Average of 10.8%.

The report shows that with 3%, Chhattisgarhs unemployment rate is much less than that of Haryana, Goa, Delhi, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh,Maharashtra, Punjab, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura.

Earlier, in November 2020, the unemployment rate was recorded to be 3.5.

According to TRIFED data, minor forest produce worth Rs 181 crore 25 lakhs was procured in the country at minimum support price in the financial year 2020-21 till March 23, and minor forest produce worth Rs 136.63 crore was procured in Chhattisgarh alone. Similarly, more than two-thirds of the target of 11.44 lakh standard bags of Tendu leaves has been collected in Chhattisgarh so far. Around 13 lakh families get EMPLOYMENT due to Tendu Leaves collection in the state. The wage rate for tendu leaf collection has been increased from Rs 2500 thousand to Rs 4000 thousand in the state.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said the state has immense possibilities for farming.

He said by promoting dairy enterprise at the local level, the demand and supply situation will improve rapidly.

The government focussed on cow dung procurement to promote Organic Farming, he said. Now several products are made from cow dung, an official Communication said.

He added that due to the hot Climate, high breed cattle were unable to adapt to the conditions. This is why work began for breed promotion.

He said the university was working to develop a complete diet pellet using hay. It will help reduce the cost of fodder by 35 percent.

The Godhan Nyaya Yojana can be linked with Rural Industrial Park (RIPA) where the university can establish units to make animal feed. He recalled the contribution of Dau Shri Vasudev Chandrakar for introducing high breed cattle in undivided Madhya Pradesh.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel reiterated his commitment to generate EMPLOYMENT in villages to prevent Migration to urban areas.

Addressing a public interaction programme in village Bhansoj in Arang assembly constituency of Raipur district, he said the number of income-oriented activities in the Rural Industrial Parks will be increased to boost employment opportunities.

To ensure employment to rural youths, a new policy for rural industries will be formulated soon on the lines of the new Industrial Policy of the state,” he said.

During the programme, the Chief Minister took direct feedback from villagers regarding the governments welfare schemes.

He said youths will be provided employment by starting small-scale village industries in the Rural Industrial Parks. The aims is to empower rural youths, he said. He said the government was still waiting for the Centres nod to produce ethanol from paddy. If clearance is given, a huge amount of employment will be generated, he said.

Urban Administration and Development Minister Dr. Shiv Kumar Daharia was present in the programme.

Referring to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2019-21,UnicefinChhattisgarhhas said that around 68% children in the state do not get breast milk within an hour of birth and more than 18,000 babies die every year within 28 days of birth due to lack of proper care.
Less than a week ago, the Chhattisgarh government had cited a Union Government report of 2020-21 to say that neonatal and infant mortality rates have dropped by 23% and 18%.

The Unicef state chief said only 32% mothers in Chhattisgarh are able to breastfeed babies 1 hour after birth because in hospital, babies are often kept under separate supervision from the mother immediately after birth, so breastfeeding is not done at the right time. He pointed out that breastfeeding within an hour of birth is extremely important for proper Nutrition and development of babies. In order to spread awareness on the health significance of breast milk for newborn babies, Unicef has initiated awareness campaigns in rural and urban areas of Chhattisgarh, he said.

Quoting NFHSs data for Chhattisgarh, Unicef says that 13% babies in Chhattisgarh weigh less than 2.5kg at birth. As many as 26,000 children die before their first birthday, out of which 250 children were found to be suffering from heart-related problems since birth, Unicef said. The rest die because of diseases and lack of proper care, it added. According to NFHS, only 10% of children in Chhattisgarh are getting enough food, 30% of children below 5 years of age are underweight and 35% children are dwarfed, plus there are 10 lakh children in the state who are underweight, Unicef said, quoting from the NFHS report.

Quoting the NFHS data of 2020-21, Dr Mishra said that the decline in mortality rate has been reported accurately as 23% in neonatal, 18% in infants and 22% in children below five years of age as compared to NFHS-4 of 2015-16. According to data released by the central government, institutional delivery in Chhattisgarh has increased from 70% in 2015-16 to 86% in 2020-21, the government said. There has been a 25% increase in deliveries in government health institutions.

The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (Barc) has agreed on technology transfer for establishing food irradiation parks and power generation from biogas in the government sector in Chhattisgarh.

Irradiation processing of food involves controlled application of energy from ionizing radiations such as gamma rays, electrons and X-rays for food preservation.

Irradiation works by disrupting the biological processes that lead to decay. In their interaction with water and other Molecules that make up food and living organisms, radiation energy is absorbed by the molecules they contact.

The interaction of radiation and radiolytic products of water with DNA impair reproducing capacity of microorganism and insects as well as the ability of food grain and vegetables to sprout.

The Chhattisgarh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights will be honoured in New Delhi with the SKOCH Award for its scheme Mor Mayaru Guruji.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Women and Child Development Minister Anila Bhedia congratulated the Commissions office bearers.

The Mor Mayaru Guruji was selected on Wednesday for the award (silver). It was announced virtually, an official Communication said.

The programmeundertakes training of teachers through Sports and other activities to make them aware of child rights. The training duration is 2-3 hours. The Commission has trained more than 2,000 state teachers.

Chhattisgarhhas inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to manufacture organic paint colours with the Department of Agriculture-notes-for-state-psc-exams”>Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Central Khadi and Village Industries Commission andKumarappa National Paper Instituteof Jaipur. Chhattisgarh State Gau Seva Commission has signed an agreement with these institutions for the transfer of technology.

Organic paints will also be made from cow dung purchased underGodhan Nyay Yojanain Chhattisgarh. In the first phase, 75 Gothans of the state have been selected for setting up natural paint Plants, officials said.

A unit of natural paint manufacturing cum carboxymethyl cellulose manufacturing will be established in Chhattisgarh. The technology of manufacturing natural paint has been developed by Kumarappa National Paper Institute, Jaipur, Khadi and Village Industries Commission,Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises.