How Can India Create A Bright Future For Children?

The fact that the rate of malnutrition among children in the states surveyed in the first round exceeds the National Family Health Survey-4 indicates a bleak future for the country. Children are the future of the country, but how will they contribute to the development of the country if they do not get the required adequate and nutritious food. According to the National Family Health Survey-5, in 13 out of 22 states and union territories, the percentage of children with stunted growth has increased.

In the first round of the survey, Gujarat has 39 percent of these children which is higher as compared to all other states and union territories. This percentage is 35 for Maharashtra,33.8 for West Bengal,33.1 for Telangana, and 23.4 for Kerala. These figures show that except in Kerala in all these states around one-third of the children do not get the required adequate food. Gujarat is a state whose development model has been propagated across the country. Even  Kerala is a state in which every fifth child has stunted growth and 15.3 percent of children are underweight, while it is leading in terms of other human development indicators such as literacy and sex ratio.

National Family Health Survey-5 has revealed that out of 22 states and union territories in 12 children are underweight for their height while 16 children are underweight for their age. In the current survey, there is also an increase in the percentage of anemic children. Malnutrition among children is on rising in most of the states and union territories. India has a higher percentage of underweight children in South Asia.

Even in terms of malnutrition, India still stands out as one of the most undernourished dozen countries such as Ethiopia, Congo, and others. Malnutrition has devastating effects on children’s health and all other aspects of their growth. As many as 60 percent of child deaths in India are due to malnutrition as weaker children have deficient immunity, and as a result, these weak children are unable to fight diseases. Also, in the early years of life, they lag behind other children in schooling and other activities. An increase in the rate of malnutrition increases not only the infant mortality rate but also hurts the overall development of the country.

The Effect Of The Pandemic

One fact that deserves special attention is that these figures relate to the pre-pandemic period. But during the COVID-19 millions of people lost their jobs and migrant workers across the country faced severe food shortages that left pregnant women and children without access to adequate food with required nutrition, making later figures more alarming.

A survey by Hunger Watch has revealed that members of poor families have reported that they now eat less nutritious food than before the lockdown. These malnutrition figures also highlight the weakness of those claims which indicate that the government has much more food than the requirement of the population of the country and provides food to the poor as required. The abundance of food and other essential commodities in the market or the country alone can not fill the stomachs of the people unless they have required the purchasing power.

Unemployment in the country is rising day by day. According to the government’s own figures, the present unemployment rate in the country is the highest during the last 45 years. On the one hand, unemployment is on rising while on the other the prices of essential commodities are also rising due to which nutrients in the diet of the common people are declining. The politics on cheap meat in recent years may also have reduced the number of nutrients in the diet of poor people.

Malnutrition has deep roots in our country. Being a patriarchal society, in most cases, girls are being discriminated against by boys in the availability of food as well as other aspects. Girls are given less nutritious food which makes them anemic and weak. As a result, these girls when they become mothers give birth to vulnerable children.

Mid-day meals need more nutritious food items and Anganwadi workers need to be given reasonable pay.

The Health Sector And How To Improve

National Family Health Survey-5 clearly depicts a picture of the government’s indifference to children. This survey captures data of the first five years of the NDA government. In 2014-15, Rs. 13000 crore were provided for mid-day meals which have been reduced to Rs.11000 crore in 2019-20 which is likely to increase the rate of malnutrition.

The health sector’s share in the country’s budget is not in the line with the needs of the people. During the period 2008-09 to 2019-20, only 1.2 to 1.6 percent of the GDP has been spent on health services by the Central and State Governments which needs to be increased. Instead of reducing this amount in every successive budget, it should be increased because the population of the country is increasing continuously.

Nutritious food items such as eggs, milk, fruits, etc. should be included in the mid-day meal. Anganwadi workers should be reasonably paid l so that can take good care of the children. If they are not paid enough to meet their needs, they will not be able to pay full attention to the Anganwadi children. To make the health services efficient the government should appoint a sufficient number of doctors, nurses, and para-medical staff.

Required medicine should be properly provided to pregnant women so that they can give birth to healthy babies. The government should pay proper attention to the upbringing of children and make a foresighted plan for it and implement it seriously. Children are the foundations of a country. So the development of a country can happen only if the children are healthy and fit. To create a better future for the children of the country, a prerequisite for the government is to adopt a pro-people economic model instead of the pro-corporate model.

Dr. Gurinder Kaur is a Professor in the Department of Geography at Punjabi University, Patiala, Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI)