The Pioneer, May 21, 2009
Pioneer News Service | Bhubaneswar
Vedanta Aluminium, Lanjigarh, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Rayagada district administration and Vedanta Foundation on Wednesday to support 600 anganwadi centres in five blocks of the district.
The MoU for project Bal Chetna was signed by Collector Krushna Gopal Mohapatra, Chief Operating Officer Vedanta Aluminium Dr Mukesh Kumar, and GM Vedanta Foundation S Chaamundi. The project will cover all the anganwadi centres in Muniguda, Bissamcuttack, Kolnara and Kesingpur blocks and 73 per cent of the centres in Rayagada block. All these centres cover about 30,000 children.
Children up to 2.5 years shall be given micro-nutrient supplement, whereas children between 2.5 and six years will be given additional nutritional supplement along with the food provided by the Government under the ICDS programme. To make the Anganwadi centres more attractive, educational toys will also be given to each centre.
Collector Mohapatra said the support would enhance the nutritional level of tribal children in the district. Dr Mukesh Kumar said, “In this tribals-dominated area, nutritional level of children is below average. We are trying to make sure that through our project children get proper nutrition and care at the anganwadi.”
Head, CSR Samiron Sarkar, Assistant Manager (CSR) Sweta Upadhayay, Assistant Manager (PR) Sanjay Sahoo and Project Head, Vedanta Foundation Balakrushna Rath were present during the MoU signing.
Presently, Vedanta is providing support to 400 anganwadi centres in Kalahandi district, covering about 16,000 children. Encouraged by the success of the programme, the company extended the project to Rayagada district. The company has also been successfully operating 38 childcare centres with 1,290 children in peripheral villages at Lanjigarh.
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