(a) whether the Government has conducted any inquiry through National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) regarding the deaths of children due to malnutrition in the country during the last two years;
(b) if so, the details and findings thereof; and
(c) the effective steps taken by the Government to make the country malnutrition free and to ensure that no such death occurs?
(a) to (c) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
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Statement referred to in reply to Part (a) to (c) of Lok Sabha Starred Question No.281 by Shri Nihal Chand and Shri Kanumuru Raghu Rama Krishna Raju to be answered on 17.12.2021 regarding “NCPCR Inquiry on Malnutrition Deaths”.
(a) & (b) Government has not conducted any inquiry through the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) regarding deaths of children due to malnutrition in the country during the last two years.
Malnutrition is not a direct cause of death among children. However, malnourished children are more vulnerable to any infection than normal children. It can increase morbidity and mortality by reducing resistance to infections. The overall under five mortality rate has reduced from 49.7 (NFHS-4) to 41.9 (NFHS-5) deaths per thousand live births.
(c) Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is implementing several schemes/programmes through States/UTs to address various aspects related to nutrition. Goverrnment is implementing the Anganwadi Services Scheme, Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana, POSHAN Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent Girls under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme (ICDS) as direct targeted interventions to address the problem of malnutrition among Children (0-6 Years of age), Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in the country. Children with Severe Acute Malnutrition are treated at the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres established by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Further, POSHAN Abhiyaan launched on 8th March, 2018, aims to reduce malnutrition in the country by adopting a synergised and result oriented approach.
Mission Poshan 2.0, an integrated nutrition support programme has been announced in budget 2021-2022 for all States/UTs. It seeks to strengthen nutritional content, delivery, outreach and outcomes with focus on developing practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity to disease and malnutrition. Steps have been taken to improve nutritional quality and testing in accredited labs, strengthen delivery and leverage technology under Poshan Tracker to improve governance. States/UTs have been advised to promote use of AYUSH systems for prevention of malnutrition and related diseases. A programme to support development of Poshan Vatikas at Anganwadi Centres to meet dietary diversity gap leveraging traditional knowledge in nutritional practices has also been taken up. Guidelines were issued for transparency and accountability in delivery of supplementary nutrition and to track nutritional outcomes on 13.01.2021.
Under Wheat Based Nutrition Programme (WBNP), Ministry of Women and Child Development allocates foodgrains (wheat/fortified rice/millets/coarse grains) to States/UTs and fund are provided to the States/UTs under Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP). Government has also promoted the allocation of fortified rice and millets under WBNP which plays a vital role in curbing malnutrition and anaemia. Accordingly, 3,97,883 MTs of Fortified Rice and 1485 MTs of Bajra (upto 3rd quarter of FY 2021-22) has been allocated to States/UTs for providing supplementary nutrition to eligible beneficiaries i.e. to all children between 6 months to 6 years, pregnant women and lactating mothers and severely malnourished children (6M to 6Y) under Anganwadi Services.
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