The recent annual malnutrition survey done for the Centre under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) threw up shocking figures for the district.

Ghazipur has around 5,000 children who suffer from severe malnutrition (Grade IV).

The report specifies that across the five states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, Ghazipur has the highest number of children suffering from Grade IV malnourishment.

Worse, these children can barely be given the medical attention that they urgently need, as sources say, that health services in the district are abysmal.

The office of the district child development programme spells out Ghazipur’s shocking statistics — out of the 1,63,150 children below age ten, 5,532 children are severely malnourished.

The situation is the worst in Barachar block of the district. Here, 18,319 children are malnourished, out of which 3,049 are in Grade IV, which means they need urgent medical attention.

In Jakhania block, of the 5,206 children, 56 suffer from severe malnutrition.

In Manihari block, out of a total of 19,846 children, 199 are severely malnourished.

Under the ICDS, the Centre spends several crores every year to tackle the problem of malnourishment among children below six.

The programme includes identification of children under six, monitoring their health regularly and providing the supply of nutrition supplements to undernourished children, apart from medical support to malnourished children.

Malnutrition is split into three categories according to the weight and other health indicators among the children.

While Grade I is the primary stage and can be tackled with food supplements, Grade IV is the worst where children can be saved only through medical intervention.

The reports were submitted to the Centre a month ago and it was found that among the five states in North India, Ghazipur has the highest number of Grade IV malnourished children.

Lenin Raghuvanshi, a social rights activist working on the issue of malnourishment among children in eastern UP, said: “It is not just shocking but a situation to worry about. We have done several surveys and the situation is serious.”

“Although the Centre does send funds for the ICDS, whether or not they are reaching the right beneficiaries needs to be found out,” Raghuvanshi added.

Admitting the problem, the Child Development Programme Officer of Ghazipur, R P Maurya said, “The results have shocked us and we realise that there are holes which need to be plugged to ensure that every child is covered under the ICDS.”

Maurya said that they would now intensify the programme in the block and village level.

Chief Development Officer and officiating district magistrate Vanshraj Singh said that they will now probe the situation.

“We need to check why the ICDS programme is not helping such children. We will also ensure that the worst cases are given immediate medical attention,” said Singh.