(a) whether the Government has conducted any survey to assess state of starvation and malnutrition in the country, if so, the details and the outcome thereof;
(b) the number of people who died of starvation or starvation related causes during the last three years and the current year, State-wise; and
(c) the corrective steps taken in this regard?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)
(a) to (c): As per Rapid Survey on Children(RSoC), 2013-14 commissioned by Ministry of Women and Child Development, there is a reduction in underweight among children 5 years of age from 42.5% in National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3) to 29.4%, stunting from 48% in NFHS-3 to 38.7% and wasting from 19.8% NFHS-3 to 15.1% in RSoC. As per the latest NFHS-4, 2015-16, the prevalence of malnutrition in children and adults in States/UTs is available at Annexure.
...2/-
...2...
No State Governments/Union Territory (UT) Administration has reported any incident of starvation deaths during each of the last three years and current year so far. However, for addressing the problem of starvation and malnutrition in the country and to ensure that people living below poverty line get adequate food grains, the Government has been providing food grains at highly subsidized prices to the targeted population through State Governments/Union Territory Administrations under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) and Other Welfare Schemes (OWS) such as Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls, Annapurna Scheme etc. National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA) provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving foodgrains at highly subsidized prices of Rs. 3, 2 & 1 per Kg for rice, wheat & coarse grains respectively under Targeted Public Distribution System(TPDS), thus covering about two-third of the population. NFSA also has a special focus on nutritional support to women and children. Pregnant women & lactating mothers and children upto 14 years of age are entitled to meals, free of cost, as per nutritional standards prescribed in the Act.
During the year 2015-16, the Govt. of India allocated 611.10 lakh tons of foodgrains under TPDS/NFSA and OWS. This includes allocation of 496.77 lakh tons under TPDS, 50.01 lakh tons additional APL and BPL allocation, 11.70 lakh tons for natural calamities, additional TPDS requirements etc., and allocation of 52.62 lakh tons of foodgrains under OWS. During the current year 2016-17, the Govt. of India has so far allocated 608.11 lakh tons of foodgrains under TPDS and OWS.
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ANNEXURE
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) to (c) OF THE UNSTARRRED QUESTION NO. 3884 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 09.08.2016 IN LOK SABHA
Prevalence of Underweight in children (under 5 years) and adults -NFHS 4 (2015-16) STATE -WISE DATA
Children (Under 5 years) %
Adults (age 15-49 yrs) %
Underweight (wt- for- ht)
Stunted (ht- for-age)
wasted (wt-for- ht)
Underweight Women (BMI Below normal i.e. Below 25)
Underweight Men (BMI Below normal i.e. Below 25)
1
ANDHRA PRADESH
31.9
31.4
17.2
17.6
14.8
2
ASSAM
29.8
36.4
17.0
25.7
20.7
3
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
-
-
-
-
-
4
BIHAR
43.9
48.3
20.8
30.4
25.4
5
CHHATTISGARH
-
-
-
-
-
6
DELHI
-
-
-
-
-
7
GOA
23.8
20.1
21.9
14.7
27.9
8
GUJARAT
-
-
-
-
-
9
HARYANA
29.4
34.0
21.2
15.8
11.3
10
HIMACHAL PRADESH
-
-
-
-
-
11
J & K
-
-
-
-
-
12
JHARKHAND
-
-
-
-
-
13
KARNATAKA
35.2
36.2
26.1
20.7
16.5
14
KERALA
-
-
-
-
-
15
MADHYA PRADESH
42.8
42.0
25.8
28.3
28.4
16
MAHARASHTRA
36.0
34.4
25.6
23.5
19.1
17
MANIPUR
13.8
28.8
6.8
8.8
11.1
18
MEGHALAYA
29.0
43.8
15.3
12.1
11.6
19
MIZORAM
-
-
-
-
-
20
NAGALAND
-
-
-
-
-
21
ORISSA
-
-
-
-
-
22
PUNJAB
-
-
-
-
-
23
RAJASTHAN
-
-
-
-
-
24
SIKKIM
14.2
29.6
14.2
6.4
2.4
25
TAMILNADU
23.8
27.1
19.7
14.6
12.4
26
TELANGANA
28.5
28.1
18.0
23.1
21.4
27
TRIPURA
24.1
24.3
16.8
18.9
15.7
28
UTTAR PRADESH
-
-
-
-
-
29
UTTRAKHAND
26.6
33.5
19.5
18.4
16.1
30
WEST BENGAL
31.5
32.5
20.3
21.3
19.9
UTs
ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLAND
21.6
23.3
18.9
13.1
8.7
PUDUCHERRY
22.0
23.7
23.6
11.3
10.2
LAKSHDWEEP
-
-
-
-
-
CHANDIGARH
-
-
-
-
-
DADAR & NAGAR HAVELI
-
-
-
-
-
DAMAN & DIU
-
-
-
-
-
***