(a) the details of the daily nutrition entitlement for children and pregnant and lactating women under the Supplementary Nutrition Programme of the ICDS Scheme;
(b) the time by which the daily entitlement was last revised;
(c) whether the Government plans to revise the daily entitlement for children and pregnant and lactating women in light of the recent decline in India’s ranking in the Global Hunger Index (GHI); and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(Dr. VIRENDRA KUMAR)
(a) Supplementary Nutrition under the Anganwadi Services of the Umbrella ICDS Scheme is provided to children under-6 years of age, pregnant women and lactating mothers. The details of daily nutrition entitlement for children and pregnant and lactating women as provided under Schedule II of National Food Security Act, 2013 are as under:
S.No. Category Type of meal Calories
(Kcal) Protein(g)
1. Children (6 months to 3 years) Take Home Ration 500 12-15
2. Children (3 to 6 years) Morning snack and Hot Cooked Meal 500 12-15
3. Children (6 months to 6 years) who are malnourished Take Home Ration 800 20-25
4. Pregnant women and Lactating mothers Take Home Ration 600 18-20
(b) The Revised Nutrition and Feeding norms for supplementary nutrition under the Anganwadi Services scheme of the umbrella ICDS were issued on 24.02.2009. Subsequently, the National Food Security Act was promulgated in 2013. Sections 4,5 & 6 of the said Act mandates the nutritional entitlement for children and pregnant women and lactating mothers. Schedule II of the aforesaid Act prescribes nutritional norms for the aforesaid beneficiaries. In pursuance of Section 39 of the Act, Supplementary Nutrition (under ICDS) Rules were notified on 20.02.2017; a copy of which was laid on the Table of both the Houses of Parliament.
(c ) & (d) The position of the country in Global Hunger Index (GHI) is dependent on four component indicators namely undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting and child mortality which are used to arrive at the GHI scores. Therefore, improvement in position in GHI is directly related to the improvement in nutritional outcomes in the country, for which several schemes are being implemented by the Government, which inter alia include Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana implemented by this Ministry as direct targeted interventions to reduce the levels of malnutrition in the country. Supplementary Nutrition under the Anganwadi Services Scheme is provided in order to bridge the gap between the Recommended Dietary Allowances for Indians prescribed by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the Average Dietary Intake among the population based on the National Surveys. Accordingly, the nutrition norms under the programme are formulated to bridge this gap.
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