Announcement of IDA Assists Nutrition Project in India on April 17, 1980

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE .World Bank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A.• Telephone: (202) 477-1234 IDA NEWS RELEASE NO. 80/39 Apr i l 17 , 198 0 IDA ASSISTS NUTRITION PROJECT IN INDIA A project designed to improve the nutrition and health conditions of children, particularly children aged six to 36 months, and pregnant and nursing women wi 11 be implemented in India's Tamil Nadu State with the as- sistance of a credit of $32 mill ion from the International Development Association (IDA), an affiliate of the World Bank. The $66.4 mill ion project will consist principally of linked programs of nutrition and health services delivery in the rural areas of six distri~ts of Tamil Nadu. It includes a system to monitor the nutri- tional standards of children under three years of age and provision of food to counter energy-protein malnutrition in children and pregnant and nursing women. Also included in the project are: an expansion in the • scope and coverage of rural health services; combined mass media and face- to-face communication efforts to improve food habits and child care prac- tices; and analysis of the impact of the project and its relationship to other nutrition and health programs in the state. The project will help the State Government evolve a cost-effective system to improve the health and nutrition standards in the state. The nutrition component will cover about 780,000 children under three years of age. Direct food supplements will be provided to some 700,000 children. Pre- and post-natal food supplements will also be provided to approximately 275,000 women who run the risk of giving birth to low-weight infants. The health component will improve the availability and quality of basic health services for some 10 mill ion people. The project will help reduce by 25% the infant mortality rate, now estimated at 125 per 1,000, and by 50% the incidence of protein-energy malnutrition among children under three years of age in the project area. The IDA credit to India is for 50 years, including 10 years of grace. It is interest-free, except for a service charge of 3/4 of 1% per annum. • NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents . FORM NO. 1121 (J.i-76) T E C H N I C A L DAT A PROJECT: COUNTRY: TOTAL COST: Tamil Nadu Nutrition India $66.4 million • IDA FINANCING: $32 million OTHER FINANCING: Government of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: Project Coordination Office Government of Tamil Nadu Fort St. George Madras, India. Telex: CHIEFSEC Madras, India PROJECT DESCRIPTIO~: It will support (1) a system of nutrition surveillance for children aged 6 - 36 months in six districts of Tamil Nadu; (2) a selective program of food supplementation to counter or avert energy-protein malnutrition in children as well as pregnant and nursing women, combined with a program to protect against vitamin A and iron deficiency; (3) an expansion in the scope and coverage of rural health services, with particular attention to improve'41 maternal and child health care; (4) combined mass media and face-to-face communications effort to improve food habits qnd child care practices; and (5) studies, surveys and analysis of the impact of project activities and their relationship to other nutrition and health programs in the state. PROCU.REMENT: Civil works contracts ($9 million) will be small and scattered and hence be awarded on the basis of local competitive bidding (LCB). Vehicles ($1.4 mill ion) will be procured in small quanti- ties over a five-year period through LCB. Drugs, supplies and furniture ($10.6 million) will be procured in small quantities through LCB. ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: 1986 - 0 - •