The wasted, stunted, anaemic and mentally underdeveloped youth of our country, who barely survived, cannot build a strong nation

In the fourth month of the lockdown, the UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) had warned India that if the nation does not seriously address the issue of hunger and malnutrition aggravated due to the shutdown and make proper arrangements for providing adequate nutritional food to underprivileged children, 3,00,000 more kids under the age of five would die within the next six months and make the toll a total of around 12 -13 lakh this year.

Even before the Coronavirus pandemic struck, the situation was quite alarming. In 2018, a whopping 8.8 lakh children under the age of six died in India, says the UNICEF. Nearly half of all our children are underweight, about 45 per cent are stunted (too short for their age), 20 per cent are wasted (too thin for their height), 75 per cent are anaemic and 57 per cent are deficient in Vitamin A. Half of the world’s malnourished children live in India.

The rate of malnutrition among India’s children is almost five times more than China and double than that in Sub-Saharan Africa, says a World Bank report. A study commissioned by the UNICEF in 2019 had found that over 80 per cent of adolescents in India suffered from hidden malnutrition. This includes deficiency of one or more micronutrients such as iron, folate, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin B12, and vitamin D.

According to the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)  Mission document of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, out of the total child births of 2.5 crore annually in India, child survival is only 1.75 crore. Infant mortality is 0.8 crore annually or 80,00,000 children die every year in our country before six months of age. This means that on an average as many as 21,917 children die every day in India. Maternal and child malnutrition is one of the reasons for 68 per cent under-five deaths in India.

What has been the COVID-19 lockdown impact? With job and income loss on a large scale, closing of schools and consequently the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) and Anganwadis that gave hot, cooked meals, a poor Public Distribution System (PDS) and poor implementation of the announced schemes of free rations during the last five months, there is a situation of absolute poverty and hunger in our country that will have a serious impact on the already pathetic nutritional status of our people, especially the children and women.

The UNICEF has estimated that 120 million children living in South Asian countries, including India, could slip into poverty within the next six months due to the COVID-19 crisis, taking the total number of such kids in the region to 360 million. The UNICEF also warns: “In the worst-case scenario, where health interventions are reduced by around 45 per cent, there could be as much as a 44.7 per cent increase in under-five child deaths and 38.6 per cent increase in maternal deaths per month.”

 In the last two decades, there have been many dialogues, debates, and legal steps like the Supreme Court Judgment on Right to food Act and so on to address the issue of malnutrition. But the schemes or missions rolled out by respective governments proved to be inadequate. The ICDS, the flagship scheme to address this crisis, has been deprived of funds despite the apex court’s judgment for universalisation of the scheme. The fund allocation pattern has been changed to 60:40 in the last few years, putting a major financial burden on the States. With the ongoing issues of lack of funds in States, things are going to worsen. In addition, there were drastic budget cuts. As an impact, according to the Global Hunger Index 2019, wasting among children in India rose from 16.5 per cent in 2008-2012 to 20.8 per cent in 2014-2018.

The much-acclaimed “Poshan Mission” is just policing of the Anganwadi workers, who are already overburdened with non-ICDS work. Similar is the case of the other schemes like the MDMS and the National Health Mission. At present, despite the warning bells, the announced packages do not address the problem of malnutrition. Moreover, there is an absence of a national composite guideline to address malnutrition at the community level.

To stop further loss of precious lives, there is an urgent need for the Government to show political will to recognise the right to food/nutrition of every citizen of India, make quality infrastructure and basic nutrition services schemes like ICDS, MDMS efficient with increased financial allocation, so that the most marginalised and vulnerable are benefitted as well.

The pandemic has shown that the lakhs of community-based women caregivers like the Anganwadi workers and helpers, Accredited Social Health Activists and MDMS workers, are the crucial link between the community and policymakers. Their work must be regularised with minimum wages and social security, as recommended by the 45th Indian Labour Conference. Otherwise whom do we expect to be “skilling” for the ‘Make in India’ projects? The wasted, stunted, anaemic and mentally underdeveloped youth of our country, who barely survived, cannot build a strong nation. How many more deaths do we need before we realise so many of our children are dying?

(The writer is general secretary, All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers and national secretary of the CITU)