Maneka Gandhi lashes out at Odisha govt over 'non-utilisation' of ICDS funds

Union minister Maneka Gandhi has lashed out at the Odisha government over "non-utilisation" of the ICDS funds, saying malnutrition is a major cause of worry in the state because a large number of children are deprived of supplementary nutrition.

The Union Minister for Women and Child Development also said the decision to increase the remuneration of anganwadi workers was an "initiative of the Centre and not that of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's government".

"Recent CAG reports have pointed out non-utilisation of ICDS funds in Odisha. The obvious consequences are in the open: malnutrition is a major cause of worry in the state because a large number of children are deprived of supplementary nutrition owing to logistic mismanagement," Gandhi said in a tweet on Tuesday.

She said while the Centre approved the increase in honourarium of anganwadi workers in October last year, the Odisha government announced it in the state only in January this year.

"I would like my sisters working under