Lok Sabha Question No. 192 (STARRED), answered on 2025-12-12
Subject: Malnutrition Free India
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Shri Neeraj Maurya, Shri Devesh Shakya

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 192*

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.12.2025

## MALNUTRITION FREE INDIA

## 192*.  SHRI DEVESH SHAKYA: SHRI NEERAJ MAURYA:

Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:

- (a) Whether the Government has set any target to make the country malnutrition-free, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) Whether the said targets have not been achieved till date, if so, the reasons therefor particularly with regard to Aonla, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Budaun, Mainpuri, Kannauj, Etah and Kasganj districts of Uttar Pradesh;
- (c) the current number of malnourished children in the country during the last five years, State-wise and year-wise;
- (d) whether the Government has set any target to make the country malnutrition-free in line with Goal-2 (Zero Hunger) of the Sustainable Development Goals, if so, the details thereof;
- (e) the details of child mortalities due to malnutrition during the last five years, State-wise and year-wise; and
- (f) the  details  of  total  expenditure  incurred  upon  the  schemes  to  prevent  malnutrition during the said period?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)

- (a) to (f): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.192* FOR REPLY ON 12.12.2025 ASKED BY SHRI DEVESH SHAKYA AND SHRI NEERAJ MAURYA REGARDING 'MALNUTRITION FREE INDIA'

(a) to (d): Nutrition goes beyond mere eating of food; it requires proper digestion, absorption, and metabolism of nutrients. This process is influenced by factors like sanitation, education and  access  to  safe  drinking  water  etc.  and  therefore,  requires  a  multi-sectoral  approach involving  these  factors.  Under  Mission  Poshan  2.0,  a  comprehensive  and  multi-sectoral strategy  has  been  adopted  to  address  various  forms  of  malnutrition,  including  wasting, underweight and stunting.

Under National Food Security Act 2013 which is being implemented primarily by Department of  Food  and  Public  Distribution,  free  foodgrains  are  provided  to  more  than  80  crore beneficiaries of the country every month.

Further, to address challenges of malnutrition, the Ministry of Women and Child Development is  providing  supplementary  nutrition  to  children  under  6  years  of  age,  pregnant  women, lactating  mothers  till  6  months  after  childbirth  and  adolescent  girls  (14-18  years  of  age  in Northeastern  States  and  Aspirational  Districts)  in  the  country  under  Mission  Saksham Anganwadi  and  Poshan  2.0.  Supplementary  Nutrition  is  being  provided  to  bridge  the  gap between the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) and the Average Daily Intake (ADI).

Further, Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme is being implemented in partnership with the States and UTs providing hot cooked and nutritious meal to all children studying  in  Bal  Vatika  (just  before  class-I)  and  classes  I  to  VIII  of  Government  and Government-aided schools. The Scheme covers about 11 crore children in more than 10.35 lakh schools in all the States/UTs.

An annual allocation of approximately 554 Lakh Ton (LT) foodgrain under NFSA, 22.31 LT under PM-Poshan, 23.05 LT under Wheat based Nutrition Programme, 0.58 LT under Scheme for Adolescent Girls is done by the Government of India.

National Family Health Survey (NFHS) is conducted in a representative sample of households throughout India and provides report on fertility, infant and child mortality, the practice of family planning, maternal and child health, reproductive health, nutrition, anaemia, utilization and quality of health and family planning services.

Multiple  rounds  of  the  National  Family  Health  Survey  (NFHS)  conducted  by  Ministry  of Health & Family Welfare since 1992-93 have shown improvement in malnutrition indicators in children across India.

Details of these indicators from NFHS-1 to NFHS-5 are given below:

| NFHS Survey         |   Stunting |   %Underweight |   %Wasting% |
|---------------------|------------|----------------|-------------|
| NFHS-1 (1992-93)*   |       52   |           53.4 |        17.5 |
| NFHS-2 (1998-99)**  |       45.5 |           47   |        15.5 |
| NFHS-3 (2005-6)***  |       48   |           42.5 |        19.8 |
| NFHS-4 (2015-16)*** |       38.4 |           35.8 |        21   |
| NFHS-5 (2019-21)*** |       35.5 |           32.1 |        19.3 |

* Under 4 years
- ** Under 3 years
- *** Under 5 years

Further,  the  Ministry  is  monitoring  and  tracking  beneficiaries  in  Anganwadi  Centres (AWCs)on  defined  indicators  through  Poshan  Tracker  since  2021  including  monitoring prevalence of stunting, wasting, under-weight prevalence among children.

The details of malnourished children in the country, State, District and Year-wise, including in Aonla, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, Budaun, Mainpuri, Kannauj, Etah and Kasganj districts of Uttar Pradesh is available at : https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics

- (e): As per the Cause of Death Report released by the Sample Registration System (SRS) of the Registrar General of India (SRS-RGI) , malnutrition is not identified as a direct cause of infant mortality in India.

According to the SRS- RGI report, the major causes of child deaths in India are Pneumonia (16.3%), Birth asphyxia & birth trauma (9.8%), Diarrhoeal diseases (4.3%), Fever of unknown origin  (4%),  Prematurity  &  low  birth  weight  (30.7%),  Congenital  anomalies  (5.8%), Other Non-Communicable  Diseases  (8.4%),  Injuries  (4.2%),  Sepsis  (3.9%),  Ill-defined  or  cause unknown (9.8%) etc.

Details as available in the Report released by Office of the Registrar General of India at the given link: https://censusindia.gov.in/nada/index.php/catalog/46176

- (f): The  details  of  total  expenditure  (Central  Share)  incurred  under  Mission  Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 from 2021-22 till 24.11.2025 are as below:

(Rupees in crore )

|   S. No. | Year                      |   Funds released |
|----------|---------------------------|------------------|
|        1 | 2021-22                   |          18208.8 |
|        2 | 2022-23                   |          19476.5 |
|        3 | 2023-24                   |          21809.6 |
|        4 | 2024-25                   |          21014   |
|        5 | 2025-26 (till 24.11.2025) |          11683   |

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