Anganwadi food unfit even for animals: PAC

The food supplied to children in Anganwadis through Women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) is of sub-standard quality and unfit even for animal consumption, according to a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report submitted in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly.

The committee has observed that the food must contain protein and calories, but its quality is so sub-standard that even animals will not consume it.

The PAC has asked the Women and Child Welfare department to probe whether the food given to the beneficiaries contains the required protein and calories levels. It has to submit a report to the Committee in three months.

SHGs are tasked with supplying nutritious food to Anganwadi children from the age group of six months to three years. When the food was tested in a government laboratory, it was found to be of sub-standard quality.

In Bhandara district, pieces of plastic were found in the food. Many food packets were also sent home because the children did not come to the Anganwadis every day. The department's officials told the Committee that they had received complaints of the sub-standard food from some of the total 90,000 Anganwadis in the state. The PAC report was submitted in the House yesterday.