What is the News?
The Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) has released data on the progress of the Poshan Abhiyan Scheme.
What does the data say on Poshan Abhiyan?
The funds released under the Poshan Abhiyan Programme which is aimed at curbing malnutrition in the country stand severely under-utilised.
Out of the 36 states and UTs, no state or UT has completely used its funds for Poshan Abhiyan.
States such as West Bengal have not utilised any money allocated under Poshan Abhiyan. Uttar Pradesh has utilised less than half of the funds allocated.
Malnutrition in Children
According to Census 2011, there are over 46 crore children in the country.
Among them, over 33 lakh children in India are malnourished and more than half of them fall in the Severely Malnourished Category(SAM) with Maharashtra, Bihar and Gujarat topping the list.
Note: WHO defines SAM by very low weight-for-height or a mid-upper arm circumference less than 115 mm, or by the presence of nutritional oedema.
Source: This post is based on the article “Funds for malnutrition scheme under-utilised: data” published in Indian Express on 2nd December 2021.
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