(a) whether India has the highest number of children suffering from malnutrition in comparison to other countries of the world;
(b) if so, the details thereof; and
(c) the details of the funds sanctioned, released and utilized by the State Governments
under the various schemes to tackle the problem of malnutrition since 2009-10, Scheme-wise and
Year-wise?
MINISTER OF STATE OF THE MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI KRISHNA TIRATH)
(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (c) of LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.338 TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.04.2012 RAISED BY SHRIMATI SEEMA UPADHYAY AND SHIRIMATI USHA VERMA REGARDING MALNUTRITION .
As per the National Family Health Survey-3 (NFHS-3), 2005-06, in India 42.5% children under 5 years are underweight and 69.5 % are anaemic. Malnutrition levels in some regions/countries of the world is at Annex-I.
Malnutrition is manifestation of several underlying factors & causes and is complex, multi-dimensional and inter-generational in nature. The approach to dealing with the nutrition challenges has been two pronged: Multi-sectoral approach for accelerated action on the determinants of malnutrition in targeting nutrition in schemes/programmes of all the sectors.
As the multi-sectoral approach takes some time to show results and when implemented together, have a trickle down and horizontal effect to benefit the population over a period of time, other part of the approach is direct and specific interventions targeted towards the vulnerable groups such as children below 6 years, adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating mothers.
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. The schemes/programmes include the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Rajiv Gandhi Schemes for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG) namely SABLA, Indira Gandhi MatritvaSahyogYojna (IGMSY) as Direct targeted interventions. Besides, indirect Multi-sectoral interventions include Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), National Horticulture Mission, National Food Security Mission, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Total Sanitation Campaign, National Rural Drinking Water Programme etc. All these schemes have potential to address one or other aspect of Nutrition. Several of the existing schemes/programmes including ICDS have been expanded / universalized just before or during the Eleventh Five year Plan, hence, the results are likely to be visible after some time.
All the schemes are implemented by the State / UT Administrations and the expenditure is monitored by the respective programmes/concerned Ministries. The details of the funds sanctioned and utilized by the State Governments under some of the schemes namely, the ICDS, Mid-Day Meal, SABLA and IGMSYsince 2009-10 are at Annex-2 to 5.