Breastfeeding centre to be opened on premises of Puri's Jagannath temple

Puri: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Saturday decided to open a breastfeeding centre on the premises of the 12th-century shrine in Puri.

SJTA chief administrator Arabinda Padhee said that such a facility was the need of the hour as a large number of nursing mothers visit the temple every day along with their children.

"In view of the need of children dependent on breast milk, a breastfeeding centre is being planned on the temple premises," he said.

Padhee said it has been decided to operate the breastfeeding centre near the branch office of the administration on the temple premises.

The centre will focus on privacy, hygiene and the safety of mothers and children. There will also be a special women's assistant for the centre, he said.

There had been a demand for such a facility for a long time.

Padhee directed the officials to work towards establishing the centre.

The decision was taken at a meeting attended by Padhee, Puri Superintendent of Police Pinak Mishra, ritual administrator Jitendra Sahu, senior supervisor Bakshi Pratihari, assistant administrator Subhashri Suchismita and other officials.

Earlier this month, Odisha's Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida, on the occasion of 'Breastfeeding Week', inaugurated the state's first public breastfeeding centre in Bhubaneswar and announced plans to establish similar centres in various public places such as railway stations, bus stands, and markets.

Parida said the state government aims to provide safe and private spaces for nursing mothers and deploy female attendants at railway stations for assistance.

She also sought societal support in normalising breastfeeding in public and mentioned the importance of providing basic facilities such as clean toilets and breastfeeding rooms in public spaces.

She also called upon shopping malls to open breastfeeding centres on their premises, with more than 70 per cent of the customers being women.

Meanwhile, the state government has decided to introduce the queue system for devotees visiting the Jagannath temple.

"The 'dhadi darshan' (queue system) will be made operational from September 15, ahead of the auspicious Kartik month of the Hindu calendar, which draws lakhs of pilgrims to the holy city," Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said.