Isha ShethContributing Author at Rightantra Are you hungry? No problem. Head to the nearest refrigerator and grab your favourite meal. However, this solution is not available to you, if you're part of the 800 million people who had the misfortune of being part of the wrong social class. The Right to Food and Nutrition has been globally recognized in various binding as well as non-binding international instruments, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1966, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 1979, Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, etc. However, global drivers such as climate change, armed conflict, particularly in under-resourced countries has posed a great challenge in the fulfillment of this right.
Domestically, the Right to Food falls under the wide ambit of the Right to Life encompassed in Article 21 of the Constitution of India. While the Right to Food had been recognised as a fundamental right in various cases, the decade-long battle in the Supreme Court, People’s Union for Civil Liberties vs. Union of India, led to a plethora of orders and directions to various States and the Central Government, is considered a milestone in ensuring food security for all. Subsequently, the National Food Security Act, also known as the Right to Food Act, was passed in 2013. The Integrated Child Development Scheme is one of the major schemes to ameliorate the nutrition level among children. Malnutrition among children has been one of the longstanding problems present for decades in India. Efforts over the years have failed to bring in much improvement. The child mortality rate in India is 61% and a large number of children up to the age of 14 years suffering from malnutrition and hunger do not go to school, drop out in the middle of the session. Malnutrition in children and mothers is also responsible for 15% of the diseases in India. Child growth failure is measured as per three parameters–stunting or low height for age, wasting or low weight for height, and underweight or low weight for age. In India in 2017, 39% of children under five were stunted, 16% were wasted and 33% were underweight, with Bihar and Uttar Pradesh being home to the highest number of stunted children. What does the Right to Food mean for children? Right to Food means that all children must get the minimum amount of food required for survival. Children from the ages of 6 months to 14 years (and lactating mothers as well) are entitled to receive food that meets the nutritious requirements free of cost. As per the Central Scheme, children between the ages of 6 months to 3 years are entitled to Take Home Ration which must meet the requirement of 500 calories and 12-15 grams of protein. Children between the ages of 3-6 are entitled to receive a morning snack and a hot cooked meal with a similar nutrition requirement. In addition to this, malnourished children between the ages of 6 months to 6 years are entitled to a take-home ration which must contain 800 calories and 20-15 grams of protein. School-going children also receive a hot cooked meal containing 450 calories and 12 grams of protein (for lower primary classes) and 700 calories and 20 grams of protein (for higher primary classes). To facilitate the distribution of food, there is a widespread network of Integrated Food Development Services (ICDS) known as Anganwadi Centres. What are Anganwadi Centres and where do they exist? In Hindi, Anganwadi means “courtyard shelter”. It provides many services for children and lactating mothers. They were established in 1975 to help reduce starvation and malnutrition among children. Anganwadi Centres are available in each State. You can find out about the Anganwadi Centres near you from the website of the Ministry of Women & Child Development (http://icds-wcd.nic.in/icdsawc.aspx). Which other schemes exist for Children? Many schemes exist for raising nutrition levels among children, adolescent girls, pregnant women, and lactating mothers, both at the Central and the State level. The POSHAN Abhiyan, to improve the nutrition level among children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers was launched in 2017. Right to Food during COVID-19 As the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the second most populous country in the world, local food systems set in place were disrupted. The nationwide lockdown impacted the most vulnerable groups of society, and their families- agricultural, migrant, and other workers who entirely depend on daily wages as a mode of living. Women and children continue to bear a disproportionate burden of the pandemic-accelerated health and food crisis. COVID-19 has substantially affected the network of government-run health and development centres, popularly known as Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). In this battle against pandemic afflicted malnutrition, the role of anganwadi workers has been significant. However, these workers have been preoccupied with COVID-19 response work, and nutrition programmes have taken a backseat. With schools and anganwadis shut, around 95.1 million children have lost access to the Mid-Day Meal Scheme. Although the central government has ordered that those without ration cards will also get subsidised food grain, long, snaking queues outside the public distribution system shops have resulted in people not receiving essentials such as gram flour or salt. Lack of a healthy and nutritious meal will increase the issues of malnutrition felt throughout the nation, and undo decades long work in the health and well- being of children. This may increase chances of these children contracting the coronavirus, and will increase difficulties in battling the same. References:
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