What is the issue?
According to the Hungama survey that measured the nutrition status of more than one lakh children and 74,000 mother, 42% of children aged below five years are underweight.
Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh
Calling malnourishment "a national shame", Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said the health of the economy and society lies in the health of this generation. "In the years to come, these children will join our workforce as scientists, farmers, teachers, data operators, artisans and service providers. We cannot hope for a healthy future for our country with a large number of malnourished children."
What is being done about it?
"We need to focus on districts where malnutrition levels are high and where conditions causing malnutrition prevail. Policy makers need to clearly understand many linkages -- between education and health, between sanitation and hygiene, between drinking water and nutrition - and then shape their responses accordingly," Dr. Manmohan Singh said.
A multi-sectoral programme to combat malnutrition will be rolled out in 200 high-burden districts. Also being planned is a re-launch of a strengthened ICDS. India also plans to initiate a nationwide communication campaign against malnutrition.
Health and Nutrition is a problem that we should have ideally rid ourselves of by now. That we still are trying to figure how to combat it, effectively explains the success of previously enabled policies, or/and their implementation. [Despite the 20% decline in malnutrition according to the report.]
What we should be doing right now, is to focus on models that are promising, in their nature of result. A nationwide communication campaign against malnutrition sounds like a brilliant idea in an attempt to fit these children in the foodchain. But the issue requires not just awareness and thoughts for food, but an immediate action on the government's part. Only when coupled with government invesment and context specific policy priorities, malnutrition can be eradicated.
Education and Health are very much linked and the policy of midday meals would be benneficial only if more number of children get enrolled in government schools.
Public Distribution System needs a little bit of revolutionising itself. According to me, a great problem is lack of context and formulation of nationwide policies instead of working in a vertical system so as to accomodate the challenges and capacities of each region.
