Bhubaneswar: In a significant move aimed at strengthening child nutrition, the Odisha Government today enhanced the daily cost of supplementary nutrition for severely underweight children, benefiting around 35,000 children across the state.

Announcing the decision, Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Women and Child Development Pravati Parida said the daily nutrition allocation for severely underweight children aged six months to six years has been increased from ₹8 to ₹12.

In addition, ₹6 per child per day is being provided under the Mukhyamantri Sampoorna Pushti Yojana. With this revision, each eligible child will now receive nutrition worth a total of ₹18 per day.

The state government will incur an additional annual expenditure of approximately ₹10.7 crore for this initiative.

Separately, the daily breakfast allocation for pre-school children (aged 3–6 years) at Anganwadi centres has also been increased from ₹1.24 to ₹3.56. This will lead to an additional annual expenditure of about ₹126.83 crore from the state budget.

On the occasion, Parida also launched a simple digital book highlighting the importance of the first 1,000 days of a child’s life—from conception to the second birthday—describing it as a critical period for physical and cognitive development.

The Women and Child Development Department has developed the Odia-language digital resource to explain key stages of early childhood care in an accessible manner. Anganwadi workers will use it during home visits, and it will also be circulated on social media to improve outreach.

Parida urged parents and families to adopt the guidance in daily life, expressing confidence that it would help achieve the vision of a “Healthy Mother – Healthy Child – Healthy Family” in Odisha.

Senior officials including Commissioner-cum-Secretary Mrinalini Darswal, Director Monisha Banerjee, and other departmental officers attended the programme along with district-level functionaries.