SANGUEM: In Sanguem and surrounding regions, parents and pregnant women are unhappy with the packaged food items supplied under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and are demanding a return to the old practice of providing food grains. They argue that the packaged powdered meals – rice and wheat porridge mix and micronutrient granules- are not well-received by infants and children, citing concerns about taste and nutritional value.
In April, the Women and Child Development Department had initiated the supply of packaged powder items, replacing the traditional provision of food grains, including jaggery, pulses, and other natural products. Parents and children were accustomed to these items, as they were considered natural agricultural produce with no harm to the body. Additionally, parents had the flexibility to prepare meals that best suited their babies.
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However, the shift to packaged powder products has faced strong opposition from parents who claim that the meals made from these powders are too sweet and unacceptable in taste. They argue that the processed product is not suitable for infants, leading to a demand for a rollback to the previous practice.
Parents have raised questions about the basis for the department’s decision to switch from healthy food grains to packaged powder , expressing dissatisfaction with the lack of consultation with them before making such a significant change in the ICDS Scheme.
Complaints include claims of finding worms in the packaged products, although ICDS officials deny such occurrences, stating that no written complaint were filed. To address the concerns and clarify the reasons behind the switch to packaged items, a meeting was convened at Barazan, Sanguem, involving ICDS officials and representatives from the company manufacturing the powdered products. Despite attempts to convince parents of the advantages of the powdered meal, the majority remained steadfast in their demand to return to the supply of natural food grains. Parents argue that infants and children below 2.5 years, the primary recipients of the packaged food, refuse to consume the products, resulting in wastage.
The ICDS officials and company representatives claimed that the powdered meal contains essential nutrients such as Calcium, Vitamin A, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, B2, and B3, emphasising their nutritional benefits over grains and pulses alone. However, parents continued to resist; many of them said they had stopped collecting the package as their children refused to eat it, and others said they had been taking it home and destroying it as they were worried it was not safe to consume.
Worried parents have urged ICDS officials to cease the supply of packaged powder items, produced by a Dharwad-based company, and revert to the proven practice of providing traditional food grains, which has been successful for many decades under the ICDS Scheme.
