Unicef hands out therapeutic foods bypassing State
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C Shivakumar [log in to unmask]
First Published : 12 Jul 2009 01:38:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 12 Jul 2009 10:11:52 AM IST
CHENNAI: UNICEF did not seek the approval of the Government of India
before it procured and distributed ready-to-use therapeutic foods
(RUTF) in certain cases, an RTI reply has revealed.
The world body had procured emergency supplies worth $2.4 million, of
which the RUTF stock was supplied in parts of India late last year
without official permission, the Union Ministry of Women and Child
Development said in response to an application filed under the Right
to Information Act.
UNICEF has denied the charge.
The response to the RTI said Unicef imported RUTF and distributed it
in “some of the states without any knowledge or approval of the
ministry”.
What’s more, the Centre has noticed it isn’t a one-off. In a separate
memo, to which Express gained access, the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare stated it has also noticed that “activities by the
international agencies are being carried out within the domain of
reproductive child health without any prior intimation/discussion/
approval of the Government of India.” Unicef, it added, organised a
weeklong activity in November last year on RUTF in Pune and invited
two foreign experts. “The RUTF is Plumpynut (a high-protein, peanut-
based paste) from France costing USD $60 per child. RUTF are not an
accepted strategy of the government of India, neither under
reproductive child health nor under ICDS.” But Unicef ’s communication
specialist Thomas George said the agency’s officials did have the
requisite permission. “The RUTF was used in Madhya Pradesh and Bihar
after discussions and deliberations with the state governments,” he
maintained.
The RUTF was despatched after a Bihar government official, in last
September, sought relief for four flood-hit districts of the state, he
added.
Dr. Arun Gupta, MD, FIAP,
Regional Coordinator
International Baby Food Action Network(IBFAN) Asia.
Member, Prime Minister's Council on India's Nutrition Challenges.
BP-33 Pitampura, Delhi 110088 INDIA
Phones: 09899676306,
91-11-27343608(off)
91-11- 27026426(home)
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