Regarding its global standing on a crucial indication of human progress, the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2022 has handed India more dismal news. India came in at position 107 out of 121. India is still plagued by malnutrition
Global hunger Index (GHI)
- The GHI examines stunting, wasting, and mortality among children as well as caloric insufficiency throughout the population, making it a crucial indicator of nutrition, especially for children.
- According to the National family health survey findings (NFHS-5)
- According to India’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) from 2019 to 21, 35.5% of children under the age of five had stunting, 19.3% had wasting, and 32.1% had an underweight condition.
Budgetary allocation for Government Schemes
- Funding gaps: A number of strategies have been proposed by experts to address the issue of chronic malnutrition, many of which are included in the current government financed programmes. However, there are still holes in the plumbing, or funding and implementation, of these projects.
- Saksham Anganwadi: The Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition (POSHAN) 2.0 programme, which now also includes the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme, is carried out by the Indian government.
- It aims to work with young women, expectant mothers, nursing mothers, and kids under three.
- However, the allocated funding for this programme for FY2022-23 was only 20,263 crore, or less than 1% of what was actually spent in FY2020–21—a slight increase over the course of two years.
- PM POSHAN: Previously known as the Mid-Day Meal programme, PM POSHAN is also known as Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (National Programme of Mid-Day Meal in Schools).
- With a budget of 10,233.75 crore, the FY2022-23 budget was 21% less expensive than the FY2020-21 budget.
- It is obvious that the budgets allotted fall far short of the sums needed to significantly improve the nation’s nutrition.
@the-end
India has been plagued by malnutrition for a number of years. Even if a month-long POSHAN Utsav may look fantastic on paper, it cannot replace the difficult daily work. Making child hunger the top priority of the government apparatus is urgently required, year-round.