20-25 per cent of girls tying the knot in Gujarat are underage

Health Commissioner Amarjit Singh revealed these figures while making a presentation to the farmer leaders at the Town Hall on Saturday. It is part of the department's initiative to support the farmers in spreading the message of pre and post-natal care, as also nutrition. “The practice is prevalent in some communities like the tribals and the bharwads. It is linked to the issue of malnutrition in a way,” he said.

The state government is observing 2008 as the Healthy Child Year (Nirogi Bal Varsh). In this context, Singh exhorted the farmer leaders to focus on these serious issues during the upcoming Krushi Mahotsav.

The fact that malnutrition afflicts the population of this otherwise prosperous state has been a sore thumb for the officials, who are now trying to find explanations in the people's essentially vegetarian food habits and ignorance.

This coupled with the high incidence of early marriage has seen 53 per cent of maternal and child deaths in the state.

Singh said, early marriage and malnutrition sets a vicious cycle wherein up to 60 per cent of women in the state do not breast feed their babies — leading to malnutrition among infants too.

“Low marriage age, low nutrition and lack of adequate pre and post natal care in rural areas are the reasons why we have a high rate of maternal and child mortality,” he said. “The Krushi Mahotsav is a mass contact programme and provides a good opportunity to sensitise people on this issue. If lactating mothers are well fed, it would ensure the good health of the children too,” he added.

Singh pointed out the measures taken by the department as part of the campaign to contain mortality rates. He said the department's Chiranjeevi scheme encouraged institutional deliveries by roping in private gynaecologists with the government paying for them.

He said the scheme has already succeeded in increasing institutional deliveries from 57 per cent to 76 per cent over the last two years.