19.96 lakh ghost beneficiaries identified at Assam Anganwadi centres: RTI reply

Agencies
September 22, 2019

New Delhi, Sept 22: As many as 19.96 lakh ghost beneficiaries have been identified at Anganwadi centres in Assam through a daily headcount, according to an RTI query.

In Assam, there are a total of 62,153 Anganwadi centres in which 36,24,973 beneficiaries, including 5,94,296 pregnant women and lactating mothers, are enrolled.

The Centre has asked all States to conduct headcount of all beneficiaries of Anganwadi centres, a type of rural child care centre set up by the government to combat undernutrition and stunting among children below the age of six years and also meet nutritional needs of pregnant and lactating women.

In reply to an RTI query, the Women and Child Development Ministry said a total of 19.96 lakh ghost beneficiaries (both children and pregnant women and lactating mothers) have been eliminated from the Anganwadi services in Assam while report from other state governments are still awaited.

The Ministry further said the beneficiaries under the Anganwadi Services Scheme are identified on the basis of Aadhaar which is used as identity document for delivery of services or benefits in a bid to bring transparency and efficiency.

“The beneficiaries not possessing Aadhaar card are assisted by the field functionaries to obtain the Aadhaar card. Till such time they get the Aaadhar card, they are provided the Anganwadi services on the basis of alternative identification document,” according to the RTI reply.

Officials said the identification of fake beneficiaries is an ongoing exercise and a report in this regard has been received just from Assam yet.

There are around 14 lakh Anganwadis across the country and 10 crore beneficiaries, which include children under the age of six and pregnant women and lactating mothers.

According to the revised cost norms for supplementary nutrition, children from six to 72 months get ₹8 per day while severely malnourished children (6-72 months) get ₹12 per day and pregnant women and nursing mothers get ₹9.50 per day.

The identification of fake beneficiaries is also being done through smartphones having Integrated Child Development Services-Common Application Software (ICDS-CAS) app, officials said.

These smartphones have been distributed to over 1.2 lakh Anganwadi centres.

The nutrition monitoring app has been developed under the Poshan Abhiyan, also called the National Nutrition Mission, launched by the Centre in 2018 with an aim to bring down stunting in children in the age group of 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% by 2022.

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News Network
March 31,2020

Hyderabad, Mar 31: Six people from Telangana who attended a religious congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin died due to the novel coronavirus, the state government said on Monday.

"Coronavirus has spread among some of those who attended a religious prayer meeting from March 13 to 15 at Markaz in Nizamuddin area in Delhi," according to an official release. "Among those who attended were some persons from Telangana."

Two of the six died at the Gandhi Hospital, one each in two private hospitals, and one each in Nizamabad and Gadwal towns, the statement said, without mentioning the time of their deaths.

The special teams under the collectors have identified the persons who came in contact with the deceased and they are shifted to the hospitals, it said.

Police and paramilitary personnel cordoned off a major area in Nizamuddin West in south Delhi on Monday and over 200 people have been kept in isolation in hospitals after several people who took part in a religious congregation there showed symptoms of coronavirus.

The Telagana government asked those who participated in the prayers to inform the authorities. It will conduct tests and offer treatment to them free of cost, according to the release.

The government also requested the people to alert if they come to know about those who participated in the prayers.

Earlier a separate government release said a person died of COVID-19 in Telangana, taking the toll to two and the total number touched 77 after six fresh cases were reported on Monday.

As many as 13 patients who underwent treatment for the virus were discharged on Monday, a media bulletin on COVID-19 issued by the state government said.

A techie, the first COVID-19 case in Telangana, has been discharged recently. The state now has 61 active cases, the bulletin said.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had on Sunday said barring a 76-year-old person, who had other ailments, the other patients were doing well.

Rao had said 25,937 people were under surveillance and being watched by 5,746 teams and they would be out of watch after completing their mandated 14-day quarantine period. He had said all those who are under observation would be out of vigil by April 7 if there are no fresh suspected cases.

"From March 30, their time is nearing completion. After that, they do not need to be under any surveillance. By April 7, we will have a situation of zero... We pray God that we should not get new cases,"

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News Network
July 18,2020

Golaghat, Jul 18: A total of 96 animals have died in the Kaziranga National Park in Golaghat district of Assam due to floods, the state government informed on Saturday.

"So far, 96 animals have died in the park including eight rhinos, seven wild boars, two swamp deers, 74 hog deer and two porcupines," park officials said.

A report from the government of Assam stated that a total of 132 animals had been rescued from the Kaziranga National Park. The park is currently 85 per cent submerged under floodwaters.

"Water level at Pasighar and Dibrugarh are below the prescribed danger level. The floodwater in Numaligarh, Dhansirimukh and Tezpur are still above danger level," the report stated.

At least 76 people have died and nearly 54 lakh people have been affected in 30 districts of Assam due to floods caused by the monsoon rains and the rise in water levels of the Brahmaputra river, informed the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) on Friday.

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News Network
June 18,2020

New Delhi, Jun 18: With the highest single-day increase of 12,881 COVID-19 cases reported in the last 24 hours, India's coronavirus count has reached 3,66,946 on Thursday.

This includes 1,60,384 active cases and 1,94,325 cured, discharged and migrated patients, according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

Meanwhile, with 334 deaths being reported due to the infection, the toll due to the virus stands at 12,237 in the country.

There is a big increase in the number of confirmed cases in the country today as compared to the recent days when the spike had been limited to under 11,000 cases.

Maharashtra with 1,16,752 cases continues to be the worst-affected state in the country with 51,935 active cases while 59,166 patients have been cured and discharged in the state so far. The toll due to COVID-19 stands at 5,651 in the state.

The number of confirmed cases in Tamil Nadu also crossed the 50 thousand mark on Thursday and reached 50,193. The national capital is the third-worst affected by the infection in the country with the count reaching 47,102 today.

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