Lok Sabha Question No. 3242 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-17
Subject: Malnourished Children in Anganwadis
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Manickam Tagore B, Badruddin Ajmal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3242

TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.12.2021

## MALNOURISHED CHILDREN IN ANGANWADIS

- 3242   SHRI MANICKAM TAGORE B. SHRI M. BADRUDDIN AJMAL:

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

- (a)      whether only 3.9 percent children identified as malnourished were in Anganwadis across India and if so, the details thereof;
- (b)      whether  it  is  also  a  fact  that  children  did  not  have  access  to  meals  during  the lockdown and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)      whether  the  schemes  announced  by  Government  since  COVID-19  pandemic were inadequate and if so, the details thereto;
- (d)      whether the Government has successfully measured the scale of hunger in the country, if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (e)     whether the Government has conducted any study to devise measures to check malnutrition  on  the  country  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  remedial measures taken in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

- (a)       The  State/UT  wise  details  of  severely  malnourished  children  under  ICDS-RRS (as on June 2021) is at Annexure I.
- (b)  To  ensure  continuous  nutritional  support  to  the  beneficiaries,  the  Anganwadi Workers and Helpers distributed Supplementary Nutrition at the doorsteps of beneficiaries  once  in  15  days  during  Covid-19  as  all  Anganwadi  Centres  across  the country were closed to limit the impact of the pandemic. In addition, they also assisted the local administration in community surveillance, creating awareness as well as other work assigned to them from time to time.
- (c)  to  (e)  Government  has  accorded  high  priority  to  the  issue  of  malnutrition  and  is implementing several schemes like Anganwadi Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) under the Umbrella Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme as direct targeted interventions to address the problem of malnutrition in the country.

The  estimated  number  of  underweight,  malnourished  and  severely  malnourished children under 5 years of age is obtained under National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted  by  the  Ministry  of  Health  &  Family  Welfare.  As  per  the  recent  report  of

NFHS-5 (2019-21), the nutrition indicators for children under 5 years have improved as compared with NFHS-4 (2015-16). Stunting has reduced from 38.4% to 35.5%, while Wasting has reduced from 21.0% to 19.3% and Underweight prevalence has reduced from 35.8% to 32.1%.

In  order  to  address  the  challenges  of  malnutrition,  Government  has  taken  steps  to improve  nutritional  quality  and  testing,  strengthen  delivery  and  leverage  technology under Poshan Tracker to improve governance. Streamlined Guidelines were issued on Quality Assurance, Roles and Responsibilities of Duty Holders, procedure for procurement, integrating AYUSH concepts and Data Management and Monitoring for transparency,  efficiency  and  accountability  in  delivery  of  Supplementary  Nutrition  on 13.01.2021 .  Government has advised States/UTs to launch a drive for identification of SAM children for referral to hospitals (if required) and AYUSH centres in accordance with the detailed action plan approved by the District Nutrition Committee to be finalized in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer.

Further,  Mission  Poshan  2.0,  an  integrated  nutrition  support  programme  has  been announced in Budget 2021-2022 for all States/UTs. It seeks to strengthen nutritional content,  delivery,  outreach  and  outcomes  with  focus  on  developing  practices  that nurture health, wellness and immunity to malnutrition Annexure-I is at attachment.

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The State/UT wise details of severely malnourished children under ICDS -RRS (as on June 2021)

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