Lok Sabha Question No. 4982 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-31
Subject: Malnutrition Death Rate
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Queen Oja

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4982

TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.03.2023

## MALNUTRITION DEATH RATE

## 4982.  SHRIMATI QUEEN OJA:

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

- (a) whether  the  infant  children  of  women  living  below  the  poverty  line  die prematurely due to malnutrition mainly on account of poverty and negligence on part of Government machinery;
- (b) if so, the details of the such death rate during the last three years, State-wise;
- (c) the details of the schemes of the Government for the care of women living below the poverty line and also for their children; and
- (d) whether the Government proposes to formulate any of the schemes in this regard and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) & (b) Malnutrition is not a direct cause of death among children. However, 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. No States have reported any direct deaths due to malnutrition.
- (c)  &  (d)  Schemes  for  care  of  women  including  women  and  children  living  below poverty line are implemented by the Ministry under three verticals, viz. (1) Saksham Anganwadi & Poshan 2.0 (2) Mission Shakti (3) Mission Vatsalya. The details of these schemes are as under:
- i. Saksham  Anganwadi  &  Poshan  2.0: This  is  a  universal,  self-selecting scheme. It has been reorganized into 3 primary verticals: (i) Nutrition Support for  Children  upto  the  age  of  6  years,  Adolescent  Girls  (14-18  years)  and Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers (ii) Early Childhood Care and Education [3-6  years]  and  (iii)  Anganwadi  Infrastructure  including  modern,  upgraded Saksham Anganwadis.
- ii. Mission Shakti: Mission Shakti comprises of two sub-schemes 'Sambal' and 'Samarthya' for  safety  and  security  of  women  and  empowerment  of  women respectively.  The  existing  schemes  of  One  Stop  Centres  (OSC),  Women Helplines (181-WHL) and Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) together with a new component of Nari Adalat have been made part of Sambal sub- scheme; while the  schemes  of  Pradhan  Mantri  Matru  Vandana  Yojana  (PMMVY),  Shakti Sadan (Ujjwala & Swadhar Greh), Working Women Hostel (Sakhi Niwas) and National Creche Scheme (Palna) have been subsumed in 'Samarthya'.
- iii. Mission  Vatsalya: Under  the  scheme,  support  is  provided  for  delivering services for children in need and in difficult circumstances universally across the  country;  develop  context-based  solutions  for  holistic  development  of children from varied backgrounds. The Child Care Institutions (CCIs) established  under  the  scheme  support  inter-alia  age  appropriate  education, access  to  vocational  training,  recreation,  health  care,  counseling  etc.  and covers both rural and urban children.

Further, the Government is supporting all States/UTs in implementation of Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent health and Nutrition (RMNCAH+N) strategy as a life cycle approach under National Health Mission (NHM). Interventions/schemes for improving child survival including children living below the poverty line are:

- i. Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs) are set up at public health facilities to  treat  and  manage  the  children  with  Severe  Acute  Malnutrition  (SAM) admitted with medical complications.
- ii. Community Based care of New-born and Young Children: Under  Home Based  New-born  Care  (HBNC)  and  Home-Based  Care  of  Young  Children (HBYC) program, home visits are performed by ASHAs to improve child rearing practices and to identify sick newborn and young children in the community.
- iii. Mothers' Absolute Affection (MAA): Early initiation and exclusive breastfeeding  for  first  six  months  and  appropriate  Infant  and  Young  Child Feeding  (IYCF)  practices  are  promoted  under  Mothers'  Absolute  Affection (MAA).
- iv. Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) strategy to strengthen the existing mechanisms and foster newer strategies to tackle anaemia.
- v. Intensified Diarrhoea Control Fortnight / Defeat Diarrhoea (D2) initiative is implemented for promoting ORS and Zinc use, for reducing diarrhoeal deaths and associated malnutrition.
- vi. Social  Awareness  and  Actions  to  Neutralize  Pneumonia  Successfully SAANS) initiative for  reduction  of  Childhood  morbidity  and mortality due to Pneumonia.
- vii. Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) to provide vaccination to children against life threatening diseases.
- viii. Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakaram RBSK): Children from 0 to 18 years of age are screened for 32 health conditions (Diseases, Deficiencies, Defects and Developmental delay) to improve child survival.
- ix. Capacity Building: Capacity building programmes of health care providers are taken up for improving child survival and health outcomes.
- x. Village Health Sanitation and Nutrition Days (VHSNDs) are  observed for provision  of  maternal  and  child  health  services  and  creating  awareness  on maternal  and  child  care  in  convergence  with  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child Development. Health and nutrition education through mass and social media is also promoted to improve healthy practices and to generate demand for service uptake.
- xi. Mother and Child Protection Card is the joint initiative of the Ministry of Health &  Family  Welfare  and  the  Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  to addresses the nutrition concerns in children.

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