Lok Sabha Question No. 4765 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-03-23
Subject: National Nutrition Policy
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT, RANJEET RANJAN, RAJESH RANJAN  (PAPPU  YADAV), Shrirang Appa Barne, SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE, SHIVAJI ADHALRAO PATIL, DHARMENDRA YADAV

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UN-STARRED QUESTION NO. 4765

TO BE ANSWERED ON 23.03.2018

## NATIONAL NUTRITION POLICY

4765. SHRI VINAYAK BHAURAO RAUT: SHRIMATI RANJEET RANJAN: SHRI RAJESH RANJAN: SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE: DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: SHRI ADHALRAO PATIL SHIVAJIRAO: SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  National  Nutrition  Policy  was  introduced  with  an  aim  to  eradicating malnutrition and achieving optimum nutrition for all and if so, the details and salient features thereof;
- (b) the expenditure incurred/to be incurred on the said policy along with the monitoring mechanism  in  place  and  the  steps  taken  to  sensitize  Government  machinery  on prevention of malnutrition;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  constituted  any  Inter-Ministerial  Group  for  the  said policy, if so, the details thereof along with the recommendations, if any, made by the Group and the follow-up action taken thereon;
- (d) whether as per reports, disease burden due to child and maternal malnutrition in India was 12 times higher per person than in China in 2016 and every fourth child in 10 most populous Indian cities has stunted growth and development due to malnutrition and if so, the reaction of the Government thereto;
- (e) whether the Government has  reviewed the implementation process of the policy to find out its low effectiveness in curbing the malnutrition; and
- (f) if so, the details and the outcome thereof along with the action taken thereon?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF  WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (DR. VIRENDRA KUMAR)

- (a) : The National Nutrition Policy (NNP) was formulated with the aim of reducing malnutrition, improving household food security and promoting appropriate diets and healthy lifestyles. NNP identified key areas of action in various areas like agriculture, food production, food supply, education, information, healthcare, social justice, tribal welfare, urban development, rural development, labour, women and child development, people with special needs and monitoring and surveillance. The core strategy  envisaged  under  NNP  is  to  tackle  the  problem  of  nutrition  through  direct

nutrition interventions for vulnerable groups as well as through various development policy  instruments  which  will  improve  access  and  create  conditions  for  improved nutrition.

- (b) : In  order  to  realize  the  commitments  made  in  the  National  Nutrition  Policy, several programmes in the social sector which impact the nutrition of the people are being  implemented by the Government. This Ministry is implementing  Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana under the umbrella Integrated Child Development Services Scheme as direct targeted interventions to address the nutrition challenges in the country. During the year 201718,  an  amount  of  Rs.  7822.19  crore,  2042.6735  crore  and  431.72  crore  has  been released  for  the  Anganwadi  Services,  Pradhan  Mantri  Matru  Vandana  Yojana  and Scheme for Adolescent Girls respectively. Recently, National Nutrition Mission has been  set  up  with  a  three  year  budget  allocation  of  Rs.  9046.17  crore.  All  these Schemes have an in-built monitoring mechanism.
- (c) : As  envisioned  in  the  National  Nutrition  Policy,  the  Inter-Ministerial  Coordination  Committee  subsequently  adopted  a  comprehensive  National  Plan  of Action  on  Nutrition to fulfil the  commitment  of  alleviating  malnutrition  and achieving an optimal state of nutrition for the people.
- (d) : Yes, Madam. As per the Report entitled 'India: Health of the Nation's States' by Indian Council of Medical Research, Public Health Foundation of India and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in collaboration with Ministry of Health and  Family  Welfare,  the  disease  burden  due  to  child  and  maternal  malnutrition  in India was 12 times higher per person than in China in 2016.

Further, as per the report of the Urban HUNGaMA Survey, 2014, released by Naandi Foundation, 22.3% children under five years of age are stunted. The survey, however,  was  conducted  only  in  10  cities  of  the  country,  namely  Mumbai,  Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat, Pune and Jaipur.

- (e) & (f): All  the  schemes  intended  to  address  the  issue  of  malnutrition  have  in-built monitoring  system  to  review  their  implementation.  Besides  this,  the  newly  set  up National  Nutrition  Mission  has  ICT-based  real-time  monitoring  system  through Common Application Software (CAS). The software also provides a template for its integration with Mother and Child Tracking System/Reproductive Child Health portal for  facilitating  auto-population  of  information  across  the  software  of  MWCD  and MoHFW. To digitize and computerize the data generated at the AWCs, Tablets and Smart Phones and other IT related equipment are provided to Lady Supervisers and Anganwadi worker.

As  a  result  of  the  concerted  efforts  of  the  Government,  the  levels  of malnutrition have reduced in the country as is evident from the findings of the report of the recent National Family Health Survey - 4 (NFHS-4), 2015-16, conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which reports that 35.7% children under 5 years of age are underweight, 38.4% are stunted and 58.4% are anaemic, which is a reduction from the previous NFHS-3 levels.

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