(a) whether the Government has reduced funds allocated for Food Safety in the Budget 2020-21;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the said reduction in allocated budget has impacted the malnourishment prevailing among women and children;
(d) if so, the details thereof; and
(e) the steps taken/being taken to overcome the problem of malnutrition?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)
(a) to (d) Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is a statutory body established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006, for laying down science based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import, to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. FSSAI receives grant from the Government for carrying out its activities. Revised Estimate (RE) for FSSAI for the year 2019-20 was 301.59 crores, against which Rs. 301.22 were released as grant by the Government, out of which an amount of Rs. 215.05 crores has been utilised under various heads. For the year 2020-21, the grant approved by the Government (Budget Estimate) is 283.71 crore which is only a marginal drop from previous year''s Revised Estimate (RE) and may not adversely affect the various food safety activities planned for the year. If required, additional funds would be sought at RE stage.
As per the report of Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) (2016-18), the prevalence of underweight and stunting among children is 33.4% and 34.7% respectively, which indicates a reduction when compared to the previous National Family Health Survey-4 (NFHS-4) (2015-16), which reported 35.7% children under 5 years of age as underweight and 38.4% as stunted. Further, as per NFHS-4, 22.9% women (15-49 years) are underweight (Body Mass Index <18.5 kg/m2) which is a reduction from the previous NFHS-3 which reported 35.5% women (15-49 years) as underweight. This data shows that there is a reduction in the levels of malnutrition in the country.
(e) The Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is making serious efforts to eradicate malnutrition. Several schemes with direct as well as indirect interventions are being implemented across the country. Schemes like Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojna (PMMVY) under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme as direct targeted interventions are being implemented by this Ministry to address the problem of malnutrition among women and children in the country.
Further, the Government is implementing POSHAN Abhiyaan (earlier known as National Nutrition Mission) since 18th December 2017 to address the problem of malnutrition in the country with a goal of achieving improvement in nutritional status of Children from 0-6 years, Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner with fixed targets as under:
S.No Objective Target
1. Prevent and reduce Stunting in children (0- 6 years) @ 2% p.a.
2. Prevent and reduce under-nutrition (underweight prevalence) in children (0-6 years) @ 2% p.a.
3. Reduce the prevalence of anemia among young Children(6-59 months) @ 3% p.a.
4. Reduce the prevalence of anemia among Women and Adolescent Girls in the age group of 15-49 years. @ 3% p.a.
5. Reduce Low Birth Weight (LBW). @ 2% p.a.
The Abhiyaan aims to reduce malnutrition in the Country in a phased manner, through a life cycle approach, by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach. The Abhiyaan ensures mechanisms for timely service delivery and a robust monitoring as well as intervention infrastructure.
Also, under the National Health Mission (NHM), a flagship programme of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, programmes to address malnutrition inter alia include promotion of appropriate Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices, Anaemia Mukt Bharat, Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation, de-worming, promotion of iodized salt, Vitamin-A supplementation, Mission Indradhanush to ensure high coverage of vaccination in children, conducting intensified diarrhoea control fortnights to control childhood diarrhoea, management of sick severely malnourished children at Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres, monthly Village Health and Nutrition Days, Home Based New Born Care (HBNC) and Home Based Young Child Care (HBYC) programmes, Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram, etc.
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