Lok Sabha Question No. 1570 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-28
Subject: Inquiry on Deaths of Malnourished Children
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Rajashree Mallick

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1570

TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.07.2023

## INQUIRY ON DEATHS OF MALNOURISHED CHILDREN

## 1570.  SHRIMATI RAJASHREE MALLICK:

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

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  inquiry  through  the  National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) regarding the deaths of children due to malnutrition in the country during the last three years and the current year;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the effective steps taken by the Government to make the country malnutrition free and to ensure that no such deaths occurs ahead?

## 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. No such enquiry has been made by Government through the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

- (c)        The Government has accorded high priority to the issue of malnutrition and is implementing  several  schemes  like  POSHAN  Abhiyaan,  Anganwadi  Services, Scheme for Adolescent Girls, under Mission Poshan 2.0 and Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) under Mission Shakti, as direct targeted interventions to address the problem of malnutrition in the country.

POSHAN Abhiyaan launched on 8th March 2018, aims to achieve improvement in nutritional status of Adolescent Girls, Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers in a time  bound  manner  by  adopting  a  synergised  and  result  oriented  approach.  The Abhiyaan has been rolled out across 36 States/UTs.

Further,  the  efforts  under  the  Supplementary  Nutrition  Programme  under Anganwadi Services and POSHAN Abhiyaan have been rejuvenated and converged as 'Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0' (Mission Poshan 2.0). It seeks to address the  challenges  of  malnutrition  in  children,  adolescent  girls,  pregnant  women  and lactating  mothers  through  a  strategic  shift  in  nutrition  content  and  delivery  and  by creation of a convergent eco-system to develop and promote practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity.

Poshan 2.0 focuses on Maternal Nutrition,  Infant  and  Young  Child  Feeding Norms, Treatment of MAM/SAM and Wellness through AYUSH. It rests on the pillars of Convergence, Governance, and Capacity-building. POSHAN Abhiyaan is the key pillar  for  Outreach  and  will  cover  innovations  related  to  nutritional  support,  ICT interventions, Media Advocacy and Research, Community Outreach and Jan Andolan. Steps have been taken to improve nutritional quality and testing in accredited labs, strengthen delivery and leverage technology under the 'Poshan Tracker', a robust ICT enabled platform to improve governance with regard to monitoring of provisioning of supplementary nutrition for prompt supervision and management of services. Under  Poshan  2.0,  focus  is  on  diet  diversity,  food  fortification,  leveraging traditional systems of knowledge and popularizing use of millets. Nutrition awareness strategies under Poshan 2.0 aim to develop sustainable health and well-being through regional meal plans to bridge dietary gaps. Further, greater emphasis is being given on the use of millets (coarse grains) for  preparation  of  Hot  Cooked  Meal  and  Take  Home  rations  (not  raw  ration)  at Anganwadi centres for Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers and Children below 6 years of age, as millets have high nutrient content which includes protein, essential fatty acid, dietary fibre, B-Vitamins, minerals such as calcium, iron, zinc, folic acid and other micro-nutrients thus helping to tackle anemia  and  other micro-nutrient deficiencies  common  among  women  and  children.Under  Supplementary  Nutrition Programme of Mission Poshan 2.0, only fortified rice is being allocated to States/UTs.

The estimated number of wasted 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), wasting has reduced from 21.0% (NFHS-4, 2015-16) to 19.3%. As per data recorded in Poshan Tracker ICT application, close to 7 crore children were measured in June 2023 of which 7% were wasted, which is lower than NFHS.

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