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Free lunch scheme for pregnant women in PHCs to be extended

MADURAI: In yet another maternal care project aimed at benefiting rural women, the State government has decided to provide free food to all pregnant women who visit primary health centres (PHCs) for a check-up.

The pilot project, introduced in a few PHCs in Vellore district, is being extended to all districts and instructions have been given to local health officials on the mode of implementation.

P. Padmanaban, Director of Public Health, told The Hindu here on Saturday that the decision to provide ‘full lunch’ was taken because it took about four hours for a woman to complete a check-up, which included scanning and multiple tests.

“A pregnant woman, who comes in the morning, should not go back on empty stomach. Hence, we have decided to launch this project,” he said.

The Director was here to conduct a meeting with medical officers and health officials to review the implementation of various health schemes.

The food will be cooked on PHC premises. The expenditure for the scheme would be met with the funds of respective Patient Welfare Societies and steps would be taken to get voluntary contributions from the public.

“The free food scheme will be appreciated by the general public. They can come forward to make contributions to a PHC of their choice,” Dr. Padmanaban said.

While some PHCs have already procured vessels for cooking, health officials have been asked to rope in members of self-help groups to help in the implementation of the scheme.

Free food would also be served to mothers, who were delivered of babies at the PHCs during the period of stay, the Director said.

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