Five-member Central Team to visit Nagada Village Today

A five-member team of the Union Health Ministry will visit Nagada in Jajpur district of Odisha, which has been in the news following the death of 19 malnourished children. The team will take stock of the situation and suggest measures to tackle the situation.

The Central team will be led by a Joint Secretary level officer of the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry. Officers of Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Ministry of Women and Child Development are also part of the team.

The Centre has deputed a fact-finding team to the State following a request from Union Minister of State (Ind) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has asked the State Government to submit a report on the situation in the village, predominantly inhabited by people of the primitive Juang tribe, in 10 days.

The Commission member Priyanka Kanungo has written a letter to the Odisha Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi asking him to explain the reason behind the deaths and list of the steps taken by the State Government to assuage the situation. The Women and Child Welfare Department has sought a report from the Jajpur Collector.