Bhubaneswar: A total of 56,751 children in Odisha have suffered from malnutrition in the last four years, Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida informed the State Assembly today.
Replying to MLA Pradip Kumar Disari, Parida said that 23,005 children suffered from malnutrition in 2022-23, while the figure came down to 13,736 in 2023-24 and 10,133 in 2024-25. As of now, 9,877 children are under malnutrition in 2025-26.
To address the issue, the government is providing nutritious food to children and pregnant and lactating women through the Supplementary Nutrition Scheme. The scheme includes providing sattu, eggs, laddoo, and ration items to children aged 6 months to 3 years, while children aged 3-6 years are given eggs and hot cooked food in Anganwadi centres.
Pregnant and lactating women are provided with sattu, laddoo, and eggs. Additionally, under the Mukhyamantri Sampoorna Pushti Yojana (MSPY), severely malnourished children are being provided with Nutritious Chatua and other supplements.
The government is also providing besan flour mixture, bananas, and eggs to Moderately Acute Malnourished (MAM) children, and ladoo, fried channa dal, Nutritious Mudhi, and Dates to pregnant and lactating women.
