48,000 malnourished children in MP: Govt

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh government on Monday admitted the presence of 48,000 malnourished children in the state but said the death of 93 kids in Khalva and Satna was in no way related to it.
    
"The government admits there are 48,000 malnourished children in the state, but the death of 93 kids (53 in Khalva and 40 in Satna) was not due to malnourishment," State PWD Minister and spokesman Kailash Vijaywargiya said here.
    
"The children died as they were suffering from various diseases including high viral fever," the minister claimed.     

Vijaywargiya said awareness level among the Korku and Kol tribals is very low. They have less faith in allopathic system of medicine and more in black magic which has further aggravated the problem, he added.
    
The state government has taken several measures to raise their awareness level by launching number of welfare schemes.
    
To tackle the problem of malnourishment, the state government has launched schemes like "Bal Shakti and Shaktiman", he said adding that project 'Shaktiman' was appreciated even by the Centre.