by GOTHEKAR PADA
… 30% of Indian children are born underweight. In healthy infants, this could be corrected with six months of exclusive breastfeeding. But especially in rural India, where women often go back to the fields mere days after giving birth, babies’ diets are often supplemented with cow’s milk and water, which exposes them to infection.
That risk increases after six months, with the introduction of solid food. The quality and reach of ICDS centres varies from state to state: the most impoverished states, with the highest rates of malnutrition, also have the lowest numbers of centres. But countrywide the scheme suffers from the usual ailments of public services in India. Recently the production of daily meals served at anganwadi centres was taken out of the hands of pilfering contractors and given to groups of local women. A complicated system of payments, however, means that even in a state like Maharashtra, which has done more than most to improve ICDS services, centres must wait four months for cash to buy pay food bills. The two meals served at Vishal’s anganwadi—a plate of puffed rice dotted with a few nuts and a serving of sprouted moong dal—seem unlikely to give him 500 calories.
The Economist for more
(Thanks to reader)