The ministry is resolutely pursuing its campaign for the girl child and against malnutrition among children.
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Speaking at the Poshan 2.0 meeting in Gujarat’s Kevadiya late last year, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said, “The responsibility of a well-nourished India must be shared.” The national conference saw the launch of an initiative to reduce malnutrition – the first Child and Women’s Empowerment Forest, a patch of 151 nurturing trees that would be the model for more such plantations across the country. Irani’s push for such an initiative could not have been more timely, with the latest World Bank report indicating that India faced a 4 per cent drop in GDP due to malnutrition. Irani said, “Since 2018, even in the midst of the Kovid epidemic, a mass movement against malnutrition is going on by running about 160 million activities with public cooperation. In fact, his ministry ensured that essential food items for children and expectant mothers were distributed once every 15 days even during the lockdown.
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The WCD ministry’s assessment of 10 million children in anganwadis found that around 7 per cent are malnourished and 2 per cent suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Stating that the number of children affected by SAM “has come down to 1 million from the earlier 8 million”, the ministry is educating Anganwadi workers about early detection and management of such children. Smartphones have been provided to such workers in 352 districts of 27 states so that they can update the ministry’s ‘nutrition tracker’, which tracks the supply chain of ration as well as food preparation for Anganwadi children.
To protect women from domestic abuse and other crimes, the ministry kept its helplines and one stop centers operational during the lockdown. Ministry’s Sakhi Dashboard helped in real time management of cases of violence affected women. The ministry is also working on the Mahila Shakti Kendra scheme – an interface for rural women to access government entitlements.
The Ministry also launched an awareness campaign for Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, leading to greater awareness on the issues faced by the girl child. In 2020, the sex ratio at birth increased to 934 from 931 in the previous year.
But its work is far from over, as India continues to grapple with malnutrition among children and its women falling out of the workforce.
