Bal Shakti Yojana (Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres for Severely Malnourished Children), Madhya Pradesh

What is Bal Shakti Yojana?

Bal Shakti Yojana is a state-sponsored Madhya Pradesh scheme, started in 2005, that treats severely acute malnourished young children as inpatients at Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres. According to the Madhya Pradesh entitlement record maintained on the state CM Helpline portal, severe malnutrition is a major indirect cause behind the state's child death rate, and Bal Shakti Yojana exists to bring that number down by treating the worst-affected children in a medical setting rather than only at home.

Bal Shakti Yojana currently operates 315 Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (commonly called NRCs, and known locally as poshan punarvas kendra) across Madhya Pradesh. Sick, severely malnourished children are admitted at these centres against a fixed clinical standard and given treatment, therapeutic feeding and follow-up. The scheme is a Women and Child Development Department initiative on the nutrition side, but the centres themselves sit inside the public health system: the entitlement record names the head of the concerned health institution as the designated officer, and the district Chief Medical and Health Officer as the appeal authority.

What Bal Shakti Yojana provides

• Free institutional management of severely malnourished children at a Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre.
• Free referral and travel to the centre by a Janani Express vehicle, or a fixed payment to the mother in place of transport.
• Benefit heads listed in the state record as health facility, food, compensation, training and awareness.

Who is eligible for Bal Shakti Yojana?

Bal Shakti Yojana works on a medical test, not on caste, income or ration-card category. The entitlement record states that sick, severely malnourished children are given priority, and that for all children below 5 years of age at least one of the following three admission standards must be met:

• Mid-upper arm circumference of less than 11.5 cm, measured at the middle of the upper left arm.
• Weight-for-height below minus 3 standard deviations on the growth standard used at the centre.
• Pitting oedema in both feet: swelling that leaves a dent when pressed.

The beneficiary type is recorded as children from 1 month to 5 years, and the beneficiary class as all minors under 18 years. The scheme runs in both urban and rural areas of Madhya Pradesh.

Children who cannot be admitted under this scheme

• Children above 5 years of age are not eligible; Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre admission under Bal Shakti Yojana is limited to the under-five group.
• Children below 1 month are outside the listed beneficiary type and are handled under newborn care services instead.
• A child who is moderately underweight but does not meet any of the three admission tests is not eligible for inpatient admission. Such a child is managed through Anganwadi supplementary nutrition and growth monitoring.
• Bal Shakti Yojana is a Madhya Pradesh scheme, so a child who is not present in Madhya Pradesh cannot be admitted to its centres.

There is no income ceiling, no caste restriction and no requirement to be below the poverty line. A general-category family whose child meets the clinical test is as eligible as any other.

What documents are required for Bal Shakti Yojana?

This is unusual among Madhya Pradesh schemes and worth stating clearly: no family should be turned away from a Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre for not carrying paperwork.

How to apply for Bal Shakti Yojana admission

Bal Shakti Yojana has no application form. The Madhya Pradesh entitlement record records the application process as "not applicable" and the application fee as nil. The practical route to admission is:

1. Get the child measured at the Anganwadi centre. The Anganwadi worker records weight, height and mid-upper arm circumference during routine growth monitoring, and flags any child whose arm circumference falls below 11.5 cm or who has swelling in both feet.
2. Accept the referral to the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre. The Anganwadi worker or ASHA refers the child to the nearest centre, attached to a community health centre, civil hospital or district hospital.
3. Travel free of cost. Ask for a Janani Express vehicle for the trip. Where a vehicle is not used, the mother is paid the fixed amount notified in place of transport, so the family is not left paying for the journey.
4. Get the child admitted and stay with the child. The head of the health institution is the designated officer for admission. Treatment, therapeutic feeds and the mother's stay are provided free.
5. Complete the follow-up visits. Recovery from severe acute malnutrition is judged over repeated weight checks after discharge, so keep the follow-up appointments at the centre and the Anganwadi.

A family that has not been referred can also take the child directly to the nearest Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre and ask for the arm-circumference measurement to be taken there.

How much does Bal Shakti Yojana treatment cost?

Nothing. Bal Shakti Yojana is delivered as free institutional management. The entitlement record marks the grant, loan, financial assistance and pension head as "not applicable", because the benefit is a service rather than a cash transfer. The only money that changes hands is the fixed amount paid to the mother when free referral transport is not used.

Families should be alert to this. Any demand for payment for admission, for food at the centre, for a "bed", or for the referral itself is outside the scheme.

How to check whether a Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre is nearby

1. Ask the Anganwadi worker in your ward or village; she holds the referral list for the block.
2. Ask at the community health centre or civil hospital; Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres are attached to public health facilities, not run as separate buildings.
3. Ask the block medical officer or the district Chief Medical and Health Officer's office if the block centre is full and a nearby district centre is needed instead.

Why children get turned away, and how to fix it

• Measurement not taken correctly. Arm circumference must be measured at the midpoint of the upper left arm. If the reading is borderline, ask for it to be repeated and for weight-for-height to be checked as well.
• The child was assessed as moderately, not severely, malnourished. Only one of the three tests needs to be met. Ask specifically for the oedema check on both feet, which is often skipped.
• The centre says beds are full. Bal Shakti Yojana runs 315 centres; ask the block medical officer to refer the child to the next nearest centre.
• The family was asked for documents. No document is required. Point to the state entitlement record and escalate.
• Transport was refused. Free referral transport is part of the scheme; ask for a Janani Express vehicle or the fixed payment in lieu.

How to raise a grievance under Bal Shakti Yojana

• First step: the head of the concerned health institution, who is the designated officer for the scheme.
• Appeal: the district Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO), named in the entitlement record as the authority for cases of dissatisfaction, delay or complaint.
• State-level route: the Madhya Pradesh CM Helpline on 181, where the scheme entitlement record itself is published.

Bal Shakti Yojana carries no fee, no form and no document requirement, so no agent, private hospital or intermediary has any role in getting a child admitted. The Madhya Pradesh entitlement record for the scheme was last updated on 31 July 2024.