From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Jan 2: Stung by the flak he received from women’s organisations and others for his reported statement against women wearing provocative clothes, which resulted in sexual crimes against them, Karnataka’s Women and Child Welfare Minister C C Patil on Monday claimed that he had never made the statement attributed to him in media reports.

''I said something else and the media has reported something totally different,” he said in reply to questions from reporters in Bangalore on Monday.

However, he declined to clarify what exactly he said or explain how all newspapers reported alike.

''I don’t want the issue to be kept alive. Please take my word on denying the statement attributed to me. That is enough. The issue is closed,” he said.

The minister was quoted by newspapers as having said: ''I personally am not in favour of women wearing provocative clothes and always feel they need to be dignified in whatever they wear.”

The minister appealed to the media not to create a controversy in the new year and he declined to repeat as to what exactly he said in Hubli on Sunday.

The media had reported Patil as saying: ''I do not insist on a dress code for women because women belonging to various castes and communities dress according to their culture and tradition. Many women wear saris while others wear salwar. At the same time, there are western outfits like low-waist jeans also easily available in the market. But it’s up to women to decide which dress is safe for them.”

 
New Food Items in 60,000 Anganawadi Centres; Launch from Mysore

Keeping in view local tastes and habits, new food items will be introduced in all the 60,000 anganawadi centres in the State in different days of the week and the programme will be kicked off from Mysore this week.

A variety of food items would be served on different days of the week for children aged between three and six years in over 60,000 anganwadi centres across the State.

The new food programme would be introduced in Mysore this week and 45 taluks would be covered in the first phase, he said.

Patil said children aged between three and six years would be served avalakki (beaten rice) mixture, rava laddu, puliyogare rice, coconut rice and sambar rice and the food would be provided based on the preferences in different regions.

For different regions, different variety of foods would be supplied to children at anganawadi centers and pregnant women, adolescent girls and lactaing mothers.

The department has decided to introduce drastic changes in the supply of food to children attending anganawadi centres under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), the minister said.

The minister said he would soon meet Union Women and Child Welfare Minister Krishna Tirath seeking to enhance Central grant towards mid-day meal for each children by Rs 3 per head.

Currently, Rs 4.5 is being spent per meal. There is a need to make the meals more nutritious, he said pointing out that the present grant was insufficient to bear the cost.

“Spirulina”, a dietary supplement, is being given to children in 10 anganawadi centres in Tumkur district on a pilot basis. Evaluation studies proved that they were effective and the programme would be extended to other centres as well, he said.

There are 60,046 anganwadi and 3,331 mini-anganawadi centres in the State.