Srinagar
At a time when Village Level Committees are being set up to encourage people to look at the functioning of the Anganwari Centres, the Child Development Project Office (CDPO) Srinagar that takes care of 422 Anganwari centres supplied rotten food stuff to Mehjoor Nagar based Anganwari Centre on Saturday. Locals after inspecting the food stuff including pulses, semolina, oat porridge destroyed it in front of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) officials.
Locals said that Child Development Project Office Srinagar was supposed to supply food stuffs in March this year, but negligent officials dumped this food stuff at Zaldagar for four months. “The food stuff provided to this Anganwari Centre was not only rotten but it had developed fungicides. They want to kill our children,” said an elderly woman to news agency CNS. The locals while demanding action against the negligent officials of ICDS appealed authorities to inspect the Zaldagar based food store where according to them quintals of food stock are lying rotten.
They said that food items including pulses (chana and moong), oat porridge (dalia) and skimmed milk are rotting in a rodent-infested, stinking tin-shed here at Zaldagar since March 2017.
Dozens of gunny bags, carrying the “nutrition stock”, have been torn down by rats and the food lies scattered on the floor of the dark, dilapidated shed with almost zero ventilation. In another dark, dingy godown nearby, 12,915 litres of edible oil are rotting.
Confirming that food stuff supplied was rotten and poisonous, incharge Anganwari Centre Mehjoor Nagar, Mrs Tabasum Jan said locals inspected the quality of the food stuff immediately and destroyed it.
Director ICDS, Ghulam Muhammad Sofi appreciated the role of people in taking interest in the functioning of the anganwari centres. He said they have called for a special meeting to destroy the rotten food stuff. “We will ensure no rotten food stuff is supplied to any anganwari centre,” he said.
