New Delhi, Mar 4 (PTI) The Delhi government has allocated Rs 664 crore for nutrition-related schemes in its 2024-25 Budget, tabled in the assembly on Monday, with Finance Minister Atishi saying "No one sleeps hungry in 'Ram Rajya'".
Presenting the Budget, Atishi said, "To turn the vision of 'Ram Rajya' into a reality, our effort is to ensure that no person in Delhi goes hungry."
To ensure food for all, the Delhi government has implemented various schemes. There are 10,897 Anganwadi centres that cater to the nutritional needs of eight lakh women and children, she said.
This involves serving daily nutritious hot meals to 1,80,000 (1.8 lakh) children aged three to six, providing nutritional supplements to 3,40,000 (3.4 lakh) children up to three years, and supplying nutritional supplements to 1,20,000 (1.2 lakh) pregnant women and lactating mothers, she added.
Atishi presented the Budget for 2024-25 with an outlay of Rs 76,000 crore and said the government is trying to realise the vision of "Ram Rajya".
She also described how the national capital has changed in the last 10 years under the AAP government.
While allocating the funds for the nutrition schemes, the minister said, "To prepare these hot meals and nutritional supplements, we have established 11 state-of-the-art, clean and world-class kitchens in Delhi."
The menu for the children has been prepared by the country's top nutritionists. Dishes are made using high-protein ingredients such as jowar, bajra, ragi, rajma, chickpeas and lentils (multigrain), Atishi said.
She highlighted during her address that nearly two lakh children in Delhi were affected by severe and moderate malnutrition in 2014.
This number has shrunk by up to 91.5 per cent to just 16,814 malnourished children, she said and added, "This is nothing short of a miracle."
The Delhi government led by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, via the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, offers nutritious meals twice a day to around 17,000 individuals residing in 198 shelter homes.
During winters, this number rises to more than 20,000, she added.