A MALNUTRITION BLIGHT

BETWEEN FY16 AND FY23, SOME 3.7 MILLION CHILDREN MISSED OUT ON THE SUPPLEMENTARY DIET PROVIDED AT THE ANGANWADIS

- By Jumana Shah

On March 28, a CAG report tabled in the state assembly hit a raw nerve in Gujarat. The report identified a shortage of 16,045 Anganwadi Centres (AWC) in Gujarat, seen against the norms set by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD). With a population of 55.3 million, Gujarat must ideally have 69,074 AWCs, but it had only 53,029, as of March 2023. More importantly, the number of children (0-6 years) enrolled in them is a lot less than it should be, even if extrapolated from the 2011 Census data.

The Census suggested that 7.8 million children should be enrolled in AWCs, but the CAG report showed only 4.1 million, indicating a “massive gap”—between 2015-16 and 2022-23, some 3.7 million children (48.1 per cent) had missed out on the supplementary nutritional diet provided at anganwadis. Also, only 18.8 per cent of those in the 3-6 age group were enrolled in the AWCs for preschool education.