Lok Sabha Question No. 295 (STARRED), answered on 2019-07-12
Subject: Infant Deaths
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Chandra Sekhar Sahu

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 295

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.07.2019

## INFANT DEATHS

295. SHRI CHANDRA SEKHAR SAHU:

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

- (a) whether according to a report by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation, three infants die every two minutes on an average in India due to lack of access to water, sanitation, proper nutrition or basic health service and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the number of infant deaths in India is the highest in the world, according to the report and if so, the facts in this regard, State-wise ;
- (c) whether  the  budget  allocation  for  the  Integrated  Child  Development  Service (ICDS) shows a declining trend in India and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether  child  malnutrition  is  soaring  but  funding  for  India's  child  development scheme  remains  anaemic,  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  response  of  the Government thereto; and
- (e) the steps taken or being taken by the Government to eradicate the problem of malnutrition in India?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

- (a) to (e):  A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## Statement  referred  to  in  reply  to  Part  (a)  to  (e)  of  Lok  Sabha  Starred  Question  No.  295  for 12.07.2019 by Shri Chandra Sekhar Sahu regarding Infant Death.

- (a) & (b): As per UN inter-agency group for child mortality estimation, Sub-Saharan Africa region is having highest  mortality  rate  in  the  world.   As  per  this  report  globally  the  leading  cause  of  death  among children  under  age  5  included  preterm  birth  complications  (18  percent),  pneumonia  (16  percent), intrapartum  related  events  (12  percent),  congenital  anomalies  (9  percent),  diarrhoea  (8  percent), neonatal sepsis (7 percent) and malaria (5 percent). As per report, these deaths reflect the limited access  of  children  and  communities  to  basic  health  intervention  such  as  vaccination,  medical treatment  of  infectious  diseases,  adequate  nutrition,  clean  water  and  sanitation.  As  per  Sample Registration System, report of Registrar General of India, the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) for India is 33 per 1000 live births in the year 2017, which shows a significant decline in past one decade.
- (c): Budget  allocation  for  the  Anganwadi  Services  ( earlier  known  as  ICDS) under  Umbrella  Integrated Child  Development  Services  (ICDS)  has  increased  every  subsequent  year.  The  details  of  budget allocation for the said Scheme during last three years and current year are as under:

(Rupees in Cr.)

|   Sl.No. | Year    | Budget Estimates   | Revised Estimates   |
|----------|---------|--------------------|---------------------|
|        1 | 2016-17 | 14,000.00          | 14,560.60           |
|        2 | 2017-18 | 15,245.19          | 15,245.19           |
|        3 | 2018-19 | 16,334.88          | 17,879.17           |
|        4 | 2019-20 | 19,934.37          | -                   |

- (d): As a result of the concerted efforts of the Government, the level of malnutrition among women and children has reduced in the country as is evident from the report of National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4)(2015-16).  As per the said report, 35.7% children under 5 years of age are underweight and 38.4% are stunted indicating a reduction from the previous NFHS  - 3 conducted in 2005-06, which reported 42.5% children under 5 years of age as underweight and 48% stunted. The level of wasting and anaemia among the children is at 21% and 58.4% respectively.  As mentioned above, there is increase every year in the funding for the Anganwadi Services scheme.
- (e): The Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  is  implementing  following  schemes  to  address  the issue of malnutrition:
- i. Government has set up POSHAN Abhiyaan on 18.12.2017 for a three year time frame commencing from 2017-18. All 36 States/UTs and districts have been covered. The goals of POSHAN Abhiyaan are to  achieve  improvement  in  nutritional  status  of  Children  from  0-6  years,  Adolescent  Girls,  Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time bound manner during the three years with fixed targets as under:
- ii. The Abhiyaan aims to reduce malnutrition in the Country in a phased manner, through a life cycle approach,  by  adopting  a  synergised  and  result  oriented  approach.  The  Abhiyaan  will  ensure mechanisms for timely service delivery and a robust monitoring as well as intervention infrastructure. Target is to bring down stunting of the children in the age group of 0-6 years from 38.4% to 25% by the year 2022. The major works undertaken under this Abhiyaan are ensuring convergence with various other programmes; Information Technology enabled Common Application Software for strengthening service delivery and interventions; Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy leading to Jan Andolan- to educate the people on nutritional aspects; Capacity Building of Frontline Functionaries, incentivizing States/ UTs for achieving goals etc.
- iii. Anganwadi Services,  which  aim  to  improve  the  nutritional  and  health  status  of  children  in  the  agegroup 0-6 years, pregnant women & lactating mothers and reduce the incidence of mortality, morbidity and  malnutrition.  Under  the  Scheme,  a  package  of  six  services  is  provided  through  a  network  of Anganwadi  Centers,  which  includes  Supplementary  Nutrition,  Pre-school  non-formal  Education, Nutrition & Health Education, Immunization, Health check-up and Referral Services
- iv. Scheme for Adolescent Girls is implemented for out-of-school adolescent girls in the age group of 1114 years for self-development and empowerment of adolescent girls; improvement of nutritional and health  status;  to  promote  awareness  about  health,  hygiene  &  nutrition;  support  out  of  school Adolescent  Girls  to  successfully  transition  back  to  formal  schooling  or  bridge  learning/skill  training; upgrade their home-based skills and life skills.
- v. Pradhan  Mantri  Matru  Vandana  Yojana  for  Pregnant  Women  and  Lactating  Mothers  with  the objectives of (i) providing partial  compensation  for the  wage loss  in terms of cash  incentives so that a  woman  can  take  adequate  rest    before  and  after  delivery  of  first  living  child;  and  (ii)  the  cash incentive provided would  lead to improved health seeking behaviour amongst the Pregnant Women & Lactating Mother (PW&LM).
- vi. Besides, Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) of the Ministry of Women and Child Development with its 43 field  units  in  India  is  engaged  in  creating  awareness  about  nutrition  in  collaboration  with  State Government / institutions through exhibitions; advertisement in audio-visual and print media; lectures promoting the consumption of balanced diets and inclusion of fruits and vegetables in daily diets in addition to demonstrations of low cost nutritious recipes using locally available foods; training of field functionaries  and  training  in  food  preservation  for  grassroots  level  workers;  celebration  of  nutrition related events, etc.
- vii. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare  also addresses the  issue of under- nutrition  through various interventions like promotion of appropriate Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices, Nutrition Rehabilitation  Centres  (NRCs),  Vitamin A Supplementation (VAS),Village Health and Nutrition Days and Mother and Child Protection Card, Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) strategy, Home Based New Born Care and Home Based Care for Young Child Programmes, National Deworming Day, Promotion for intake of Iodised Salt, Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) and Rashtriya Kishore Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK) and Food Fortification.
- viii. All these schemes address one or other aspects related to nutrition and have the potential to improve nutritional outcomes in the country. As a result of these concerted efforts, the level of malnutrition has reduced in the country as is evident from the recent report of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 4, 2015-16 mentioned above.

|   S.No | Objective                                                                                          | Target        |
|--------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------|
|      1 | Prevent and reduce Stunting in children (0- 6 years)                                               | By 6% @2%p.a. |
|      2 | Prevent and reduce under-nutrition (underweight prevalence) in children (0-6 years)                | By 6% @2%p.a. |
|      3 | Reduce the prevalence of anaemia among young Children(6- 59 months)                                | By 9% @3%p.a. |
|      4 | Reduce the prevalence of anaemia among Women and Adolescent Girls in the age group of 15-49 years. | By 9% @3%p.a. |
|      5 | Reduce Low Birth Weight (LBW).                                                                     | By 6% @2%p.a. |

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