Telangana to launch KCR Nutrition Kits for expectant mothers: Harish Rao

The TRS government’s latest innovative scheme for women’s health – KCR Nutrition Kits – will be launched in April, Health Minister T Harish Rao announced on Friday.

This programme would be launched in nine districts to help women, especially expectant and lactating mothers, overcome anaemia problem, the Minister said during question hour in the State Assembly here. “The kits will have all the necessary supplementary nutrition required for women. Every year, about 1.25 lakh women would benefit from this programme” Harish Rao said.

The programme would be launched in Adilabad, Komaram Bheem Asifabad, Bhadrachalam Kothagudem, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Kamareddy, Vikarabad, Mulugu, Jogulamba Gadwal and Nagarkurnool districts.

KCR Nutrition Kits distribution programme comes in the wake of the success of KCR Kits for new mothers that was implemented on June 2, 2017, he said.

Since the introduction of KCR Kits, institutional deliveries in government hospitals had



increased from 30 per cent in 2014 to 54 per cent in 2021, the Minister said, replying to TRS MLA Padma Devender Reddy.

The KCR Kits had also helped in considerably reducing Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) much below the national average, he said, adding that in Telangana, MMR average had now dropped to 63 deaths for one lakh deliveries from 94 deaths per lakh deliveries in 2014. The national average of MMR was 113 deaths per lakh deliveries. Similarly, the IMR in the State was 23 deaths for every 1,000 births against the national average of 35 per every 1,000 births, he explained.

The State government, he said, had set a target to increase normal deliveries in government hospitals from 56 per cent to 75 per cent. About 78 per cent Caesarean section surgeries were being performed in private hospitals and instructions were issued to officials to initiate stringent measures on hospitals, which perform surgeries unnecessarily, he informed TRS MLA Methuku Anand.