Finding a solution to India’s malnutrition problem
- The recently released Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2022 placed India on 107th position out of 121 countries.
- The Government of India attempted to discredit the index immediately in its attempt to deny the findings of the report.
Concurrence to the GHI findings with NFHS
- India’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) from 2019-21
- In children < 5 years:
- 35.5% were stunted
- 19.3% showed wasting
- 32.1% were underweight
Underperformance of Govt. initiatives
- Underfunding of schemes
- POSHAN 2.0 scheme
- For adolescent girls, pregnant women, nursing mothers and children below three.
- Very low budgetary allocation for FY2022-23 - < 1% more than the actual spend in FY2020-21.
- Mid-Day Meal scheme
- Budget for FY2022-23 was21% < expenditure in FY2020-21.
- < the funds required to improve nutrition in the country.
- Vacancy in >50% Child Development Project Officer (CDPO) posts: Posts vacant in Jharkhand, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan
- Irregular social audits: Important for community oversight of the quality of services provided in schools.
Cash transfers and their various dimensions
- Cash transfers can play a role in addressing malnutrition.
- Especially in regions experiencing acute distress.
- Can also be used to incentivise behavioural change in terms of seeking greater institutional support.
- Food rations through PDS and special supplements for the target group of pregnant and lactating mothers, and infants and young children, are essential.
- Issues in cash transfers
- Limited cash transfer addressing child nutrition :
- Do not necessarily translate into improved child nutrition outcomes.
- Limited impact of cash transfers
- Due to volatility of food prices and inflation that depletes the value of cash.
Conclusion
- Getting the nutrition schemes right requires greater involvement of local government and local community groups in the design and delivery of tailored nutrition interventions. A comprehensive programme targeting adolescent girls is required if the inter-generational nature of malnutrition is to be tackled.