Chennai: Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Friday announced the setting up of a separate nursing room for mothers to breastfeed infants at all bus stands run by state transport corporations and municipalities across the state from August 1 to coincide with the beginning of World Breast Feeding Week.
In a statement here on Friday, Ms Jayalalithaa said that a country’s growth depends on the growth of women, for which her government had implemented various schemes for the benefit of women and girl children.
“Experts worldwide recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of an infant and World Breastfeeding Week (August 1–7) has been observed since 1990 to support and protect breastfeeding. With an aim to help kids whose mother cannot provide adequate quantity of milk the state government launched breast milk bank at Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children, Chennai last year,” she said.
Pointing out that “breast feeding and work-let’s make it work” had been chosen as this year’s theme for the world breast feeding week, the Chief Minister said that it was her wish that lactating mothers should be provided with all necessary help and facilities to breast feed their children.
“It is my strong belief that when a woman is given a responsibility she not only changes her fate but others also. Keeping this in mind, we started all women police stations, women self help groups, exclusive industrial estates for women entrepreneurs, working women hostels and six months maternity leave for women working in government offices,” Ms Jayalalithaa said.
