State Govt extends SOPAN, a flagship programme across Sundargarh

Bhubaneswar: Sundargarh District Administration extended the Strategy for Odisha’s Pathway to Accelerated Nutrition (SOPAN), a new flagship programme of state government to 17 Blocks and 4 ULBs of the district.

The programme aims at addressing any nutrition gap in children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating mothers in this mining affected and tribal dominated region.

The state government’s flagship nutrition initiative for remote areas SOPAN is implemented from April 1 at 125 blocks under 22 districts through the Anganwadi Centres (AWC). Over 7 blocks of Sundargarh district, largely affected by mining operations, were a part of this scheme.

However, utilising funds from District Mineral Foundation (DMF), the local administration now expands this nutrition cover throughout the district.

The administration also launched couple of key welfare programmes like ‘Kalika’ for daycare of working women’s children, the Transformation of Govt High School Hostels, development of village ponds, apart from launching the new website for DMF Sundargarh. Expansion of existing and implementation of new healthcare projects was also initiated on the occasion.

SOPAN shall ensure additional cover in the area of nutrition among the target beneficiaries in Sundargarh district. As per the provision, Severely Under Weight (SUW) children will be given specially formulated Chhatua for 75 days. Similarly, both pregnant women and lactating mothers shall be provided Hot Cooked Meal through the AWCs for 150 days each while adolescent girls are also given special attention to supplement their nutrition.

“Looking into the need of the people of various blocks of Sundargarh, we are trying to come up with diverse initiatives. The programmes launched today shall benefit children and women, students, working women, and the rural population at large. As a matter of priority, we are seeking suggestions and proposals from the public and involving the Gram Sabha while designing and delivering various projects”, informs Collector Sundargarh Nikhil Pavan Kalyan.

The district administration lays special emphasis on pond development across 279 GPs at all 17 Blocks of Sundargarh. In the first phase, one pond will be rejuvenated at each Gram Panchayat in the district. As a result, the ponds will be developed for people’s use and to support agriculture & people’s livelihood.

“With the launch of the DMF website, the general public, beneficiaries and stakeholders can get all relevant information of DMF supported projects and get connected using web & social media links”, informs the Collector.