They may not see eye to eye with the politics of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. But a group of parliamentarians, including Sachin Pilot of the Congress and Supriya Sule of the NCP, were all eyes and ears last week watching a presentation by a senior official from the Gujarat government on the pioneering work the state has done on “food fortification” as a unique strategy to combat malnutrition — adding iron, vitamins and nutrients to commonly consumed flour, oil and milk.
They had reason to. Given the alarming levels of malnutrition across the country — every second child under six years of age is underweight, a statistic worse than that in sub-Saharan Africa — a group of eight MPs cutting across party lines and private citizens have formed a forum, Citizens Alliance on Malnutrition, to push the government for a national policy and action plan. They have met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Opposition leader L K Advani.
Says BJP’s Shahnawaz Hussain: “This is one problem that concerns people across parties. That’s why we have come together as a forum cutting across party lines. We need to put it on the national agenda the same way we did with polio and HIV.” Pilot couldn’t agree more: “We are proud of our GDP growth and Sensex but do we realize that half our next generation will be mentally incapable of taking on challenges on empty stomachs if hunger is not dealt with now? What’s happening in Gujarat can make an effective difference elsewhere too.”
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