Lok Sabha Question No. 3833 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-08-11
Subject: Target for Zero Hunger in Children
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Chandra Prakash Joshi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3833

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.08.2023

## TARGET FOR ZERO HUNGER IN CHILDREN

## 3833    SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  made  any  assessment  regarding  the  efforts  made towards achieving the target of zero hunger in respect of children; and
- (b) if so, the details of the key indicators where the performance in regard to the above issue in India has been improved during the last five years (2018-22)?

## ANSWER

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

(a)  to  (b)          Government  has  accorded  high  priority  to  the  issue  of  malnutrition  and  is implementing Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0) which includes key schemes such as the POSHAN Abhiyaan, Anganwadi Services and Scheme for Adolescent Girls as direct targeted interventions to address the problem of malnutrition in the country. The beneficiaries under the Anganwadi Services scheme are children in the age group of 06  years,  pregnant  women  and  lactating  mothers.  Supplementary  nutrition  is  provided  to beneficiaries in the form of Hot Cooked Meals at Anganwadi Centres and Take Home Ration (not raw ration). Poshan 2.0 seeks to improve nutritional outcomes in the country.

Further,  the  issue  of  food  security  at  the  household  level  has  been  addressed  by Government by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food grains at subsidised rates. Free ration was provided to 80 crore people under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana,  (PMGKAY)  which  was  launched  with  the  specific  purpose  of  ameliorating  the hardships faced by the poor and needy due to economic disruptions caused by Covid-19 outbreak in the country. The allocation of free food grains under PMGKAY was in addition to normal allocation done under the National Food Security Act, 2013.

Further, the One Nation One Ration Card Plan for nationwide portability of the NFSA benefits is presently enabled in all the 36 States/UTs, covering the entire NFSA population in the country

As a result of the concerted efforts, the level of malnutrition has reduced in the country as is evident from the report of National Family Health Survey (NFHS) - 5 conducted in 201921.

For estimating the number of underweight, malnourished and severely malnourished children under 5 years of age in the country a nationwide periodic survey is being conducted by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare which is known as the National Family Health Survey (NFHS). 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). Wasting has improved from 21% (NFHS-4) to 19.3 % (NFHS-5), Under nutrition has improved from 35.7% (NFHS4) to 32.1% (NFHS-5) and stunting has improved from 38.4 % (NFHS-4) to 35.5% (NFHS-5).

Further,  as per data recorded in Poshan Tracker, ICT application for Mission Poshan 2.0, close to 7 crore children were measured in the country in the June 2023, as per which, 7% were wasted and 19% underweight, which is significantly lower than NFHS indicators.

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