Hyderabad: The state government on Monday proposed to launch a new scheme to provide essential items for the newborn as the KCR Kit — the first sch-eme named after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.
Though not on the scale of Tamil Nadu’s Jayalalithaa’s “Amma Schemes”, the KCR Kit will have 16 essential items that a newborn would require for the next three months.
This will be applicable for babies born in government hospitals. A trend of the Chief Ministers naming schemes after them is seen in south India. While former Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa had named several schemes aft-er her, AP CM Chandrababu Naidu launched the Chandranna brand for the government.
The KCR Kit will have soaps for mother and child, baby oil, baby bed, mosquito net, dresses, sarees, handbag, towels, napkins, powder, diapers, shampoo and toys for the kid.
“An amount of '605 crore has been earmarked for the new scheme during the 2017-2018 financial year,” finance minister Etala Rajender said. The Chief Minister, who is giving a big push to institutional deliveries to reduce infant mortality, has decided to provide Rs 12,000 per pregnant woman.
Stating complications during the time of pregnancy could affect health life-long, he said the scheme will encourage institutional deliveries. In a first, the FM used words from Telugu’s Telangana dialect in his budget speech such as Pragathi Paddu (scheme expenditure), Nirvahana Paddu (est-ablishment, maintenance and interest).
