INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
BAJURA, APRIL 4Malnutrition rate has increased in Muktikot of Swamikartik Khapar Rural Municipality, Bajura.
Rural municipality chair, 26 others booked for graft
Muktikot suffering from malnutrition
As many as
308 families in the rural municipality are suffering from malnutrition.
The rural municipality's acting Administrative
Officer Paras Bahadur Shahi said 343 persons were found to be suffering from malnutrition when a team of health workers reached the
village.Health workers said they reached the village after different media published news about the prevalence of malnutrition in the rural
They added that 59 people were suffering from acute malnutrition while eight minors died due to malnutrition within nine months.As many as
293 children below five years of age are suffering from acute malnutrition and 45 are affected by mild malnutrition.Information Officer
Kuber Bahadur Shahi of the rural municipality said that 29 mothers were suffering from acute malnutrition and 71 were suffering from mild
Similarly, as many as 12 minors below 10 to 14 years of age are suffering from acute malnutrition, 53 have mild malnutrition, and 56 are
suffering from minor malnutrition
Likewise, two children below 15 years of age are suffering from acute malnutrition, 30 from mild malnutrition, and 29 are suffering from
minor malnutrition.According to Bajura Health Office, a team of health workers deployed from district hospital and Swamikartik Khapar Rural
Municipality reached the village.Chief of Bajura Health Office Daya Krishna Panta said the team of health workers had started treating
malnourished people after establishing a treatment centre.Chief of the rural municipality Bhakta Bahadur Kaila said the team of health
workers had started giving balvita, among other nutritious food, to the people
He said acute food crisis had hit the village hard due to extreme poverty, barren land, unsanitary conditions, unemployment, poor health
facility, and lack of public awareness, among others.Bajura Health Office said that high fertility rate, child death and lack of
contraceptives, among others, were major problems at Muktikot.Panta said that all the stakeholders had to make a plan and implement it to
Around 75 per cent of people in the rural municipality are living in poverty.The village has been facing acute food crisis.A version of this
article appears in the print on April 5, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
This article first appeared/also appeared in https://thehimalayantimes.com