Friday, 14 February 2025 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Following the direction of the chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, the State government is launching weekly iron-folic acid supplement distribution among the students in grades I to XII at all private educational institutions from the upcoming academic session. This initiative is part of the ‘Anaemia Mukt Bharat’ campaign rolled out by the Central government.
Notably, iron-folic acid tablets are presently being administered once a week in all government and government-aided educational institutions in the State. However, with about 50 per cent of the children in the State being enrolled in private educational institutions, the campaign remains out of bounds for a large number of them. To address this, a pilot project was initiated last year in private schools in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts. Buoyed by its success, the State government has decided to implement it in all private schools across the State from the upcoming academic session, benefiting more than 17 lakh children and reducing the chance of anaemia in them.
Stating this, the mission director of the National Health Mission (NHM), Swati Bhadauria stated that an action plan has been formulated for the smooth implementation of the programme on the guidelines issued to the chief medical officers (CMOs) and chief education officers (CEOs) in all districts. The programme involves distribution of tablets, training related to their intake and monitoring of the process. Nodal officers have also been appointed to ensure its successful operation.
Bhadauria added that instructions have been given to appoint nodal teachers at the school level to oversee the operation of this scheme in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and to encourage children to maintain a proper diet. Pink tablets will be distributed to students in grades I to V while blue tablets will go to students in grades VI to XII.
She further said that IFA supplements would be provided to students in all private schools every Monday from the upcoming academic session.
