Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday seeking his intervention to release funds to the tune of Rs 312 crore under the 15th Finance Commission for the year 2020-21 to fight malnutrition.

“A substantial part of the population in Jharkhand belongs to the ST and SC community in which malnutrition is rampant. Therefore, on behalf of all citizens of Jharkhand, I would like to request that the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India, be directed to release the recommended amount of Rs 312 crore for the year 2020-21 for the state of Jharkhand,” he wrote.

Quoting the findings of the National Family Health Survey-4, Hemant noted that every second child aged between 0-6 in Jharkhand was suffering from malnutrition. About 45 per cent of such children were underweight, 23 per cent were skinny, 11.3 per cent severely malnourished and 40.3 per cent stunted.

“Besides the programmes of the Government of India, the state government has also decided to fight malnutrition with its limited resources. The state government has also planned to provide egg and other equivalent protein-rich food to children between 3 to 6 years from its resources. Therefore, if the central government releases the funds allocated for the cause, it will prove to be big support for the state government in its fight against malnutrition,” he said.