Raising questions over the Centre choosing not to make public an entire survey report on child health issues and instead releasing only select findings, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Ahmad Patel today demanded releasing of the full report in the larger public interest.
"This survey completed by October 2014 is said to have been commissioned by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in association with the United Nations Children's Fund... I find it surprising that in October 2014 the Ministry chose to publish only a part of the report but excluded states such as Gujarat which has chronic problem of malnutrition and child immunisation," Patel said in a letter to Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi.
"While the government may have its reasons for not releasing the report to its audience, it remains inexplicable as to how foreign agencies such as the US-based International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) got access to this data," Patel questioned.
The Women and Child Development Ministry, to whom the UN agency submitted the data of the Rapid Survey of Children (RSOC) conducted during 2012-13, has reportedly refused to accept the report, questioning the very basis of the survey.
"The IFPRI used data from RSOC 2013-14 to publish its first-ever Global Nutrition Report last year. If foreign agencies have been given access to the RSOC 2014, why not our agencies?" Patel asked.
Pointing out that the RSOC has substantial sample size, covering all major states, Patel said, "Its disclosure would not only benefit the government agencies but also the academician and civil society working in the field of public health."
"In a vibrant democracy like ours, public data should not be held hostage to political compulsions. Therefore, I urge you to take necessary action so that the entire report can be made available to the the larger public," he said.
