Social Welfare, Women and Child Development Minister Louise Marandi addressing a programme on ‘Nutrition’ on Tuesday said that a collective approach is required to eradicate the problem of malnutrition. The Minister further added, “Nearly 65 per cent adolescents in Jharkhand are malnourished. The problem of malnourishment cannot be tackled only by a single department. The picture in rural areas is gloomier and need immediate attention. If several departments join hands, the problem can be easily tackled.” Marandi was addressing a day long workshop organized under the aegis of National Nutrition Mission. The Minister on the occasion asked the stakeholders to make consolidated data of districts that registers maximum cases of malnutrition. Similarly, Principal Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Nidhi Khare expressed her concern over this pivotal issue. Khare said, “Several attempts have been made to eradicate malnutrition but nothing much have come out. Also, just creating awareness will not help. Attempts must be made to eradicate this problem through initiating a project similar to that of making villages ‘ODF’ that has engaged each and every individual in the programme. The problem of malnutrition begins with the cases of early marriages, NGOs and State government need to first remove this to further improve the status.”