Hot-cooked meals to resume under Mathru Poorna; gender minorities flag concerns

Karnataka's CM reintroduces hot-cooked meals for women under Mathru Poorna, addressing gender minority concerns in the recent budget.

Acknowledging that take-home-rations were not as effective as Mathru Poorna Yojane, under which hot-cooked meals were provided to pregnant and lactating women at anganwadi centers, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced that the scheme will be re-implemented.  

The Mathru Poorna scheme was introduced in 2017 during the previous Siddaramaiah-led government. 

“This scheme was helpful in preventing anaemia and malnutrition in women. Subsequently, with emphasis on take-home-rations instead of hot-cooked meals, the scheme has deviated from its original purpose. Taking note of this, the scheme of providing hot-cooked meal in anganwadi centres everyday will be restored,” he said in the Budget speech.  

There have been complaints that Take-Home Ration was less effective in ensuring actual nutrition, as the ration meant to nourish the pregnant or lactating mother started got split between family members. 

Moreover, the Mathru Poorna scheme functioned not only as a nutrition intervention, but also as a social platform for the women where conversations around nutrition and collective learning happened.

The Chief Minister also announced construction of anganwadi buildings in 1,668 available sites across the districts of Kalyana Karnataka region. In the 50th year of Integrated Child Development Services, Mr. Siddaramiah also announced the formation of a high-level committee for comprehensive reforms of anganwadi centres.