MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SHRIMATI MANEKA SANJAY GANDHI)
(a) As per Rapid Survey on Children (RSoC), 2013-14, there is a reduction in level of underweight among children under 5 years of age from 42.5% in NFHS-3 (2005-06) to 29.4%, stunting from 48% in NFHS-3 to 38.7% and wasting from 19.8% in NFHS-3 to 15.1% in RSoC. Among the ST population, there is a reduction in level of underweight among children under 5 years of age from 54.5% in NFHS-3 (2005-06) to 36.7%, stunting from 53.9% in NFHS-3 to 42.3% and wasting from 27.6% in NFHS-3 to 18.7% in RSoC. Further, as per NFHS-3, 29.4 % women of reproductive age are undernourished while 46.6 % of women belonging to Schedule Tribes (ST) are undernourished.
As per Human Development Report 2015 released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), India has been placed at 130th position in the Human Development Index (HDI) among the 188 countries.
(b) Malnutrition is a multi- faceted problem. The important determinants are inadequate food, level of poverty leading to low purchasing power, poor socio-economic status of women, female illiteracy, high rate of population growth and low access of population to health education, safe drinking water, environmental, sanitation, hygiene and other social services. Malnutrition is not a direct cause of death but contributes to increased morbidity and mortality by reducing resistance to infections. The State-wise prevalence of malnutrition among women and children in the country is at Annexure-I & II.
(c to e) The Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is implementing several schemes/programmes of different Ministries/Departments through State Governments/UT Administrations to address one or other aspect related to Nutrition. This Ministry is implementing Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, ‘Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG)–‘Sabla’, and Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY) as direct targeted interventions to address the problem of malnutrition among women and children. The details of these schemes is available in the Annual Report (2014-15) of the Ministry, which is available in the Library of Lok Sabha Secretariat and is also available on the Ministry’s website, www.wcd.nic.in
Additionally, the Food and Nutrition Board of the Ministry, through its 43 regional field units, is engaged in conducting training programmes in nutrition, in addition to advocacy towards generating awareness through nutrition education programmes on the importance of healthy balanced diets especially through the use of locally available foods, mass awareness campaigns and use of electronic and print media.
Further, under the National Nutrition Mission, there are two components, namely
• Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign against malnutrition: In order to create awareness about nutrition challenges and promote home level feeding practices, a nationwide Information, Education and Communication (IEC) campaign was launched during the years 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15.
• Multi-sectoral Nutrition programme to address Maternal and Child Under-Nutrition in 200 high-burden districts, which aims at prevention and reduction in child under-nutrition (underweight prevalence in children under 3 years of age) and reduction in levels of anaemia among young children, adolescent girls and women.
The budgetary allocation made and funds utilized under the National Nutrition Mission (NNM) during last three years and the current year is as below:
Financial Year Budget Estimates
(Rs in Crore) Revised Estimates
(Rs in Crore) Expenditure
(Rs in Crore)
2013-14 300.00 200.00 123.00
2014-15 300.00 20.00 20.00
2015-16 205.79 65.00 --
The objective of the new NNM is to ensure that every child, adolescent girl and woman attains optimal nutritional status. The focus is on preventing and reducing under nutrition among the mothers and under-six years’ children.
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