We Must Intervene To fight Off a Crisis of Hunger and Malnutrition

Context: Policy attention is focused on economic growth while we need to address the issue of malnutrition.

Poor state of Hunger and Malnutrition in India:

• Decline in food consumption: The 2017-18 consumption survey of the National Statistical Office reveals that there has been a real decline in food consumption between 2011-12 and 2017-18.
• Consumption also got hit due to the pandemic induced economic slowdown – leading to a decline in wages and incomes and declining employment.
• The Hunger Watch survey by the Right to Food campaign across 11 Indian states reported declines in the quality and quantity of food consumed.
• Deterioration of child malnutrition: National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) 2019 shows deterioration on several indicators of child malnutrition over the NFHS-4 for 2015-16.
• Except for Andhra Pradesh and Sikkim, all states have seen at least one indicator of child malnutrition worsen between 2015-16 and 2019-20.
• Suspended schools have compromised Mid-day meals in primary and upper primary schools as a supplementary measure to tackle malnutrition.
• Child stunting: Of 22 states/ Union Territories (UTs), 13 have seen an increase in childhood stunting between NFHS-4 and NFHS-5.
• Wasting: Wasting has increased in 12 out of 22 states , and the count of those underweight has gone up in 16 of them.

Way Forward: 

• Extend additional food grain handouts: Holding excess food stocks (80 million tonnes, as against buffer norm of 21.4 million tonnes (in 2020)) is tragic, in spite of rising hunger and malnutrition.
• India should extend its scheme of additional food-grain handouts and make it universally accessible.