MALNUTRITION DEATHS IN TRIBAL REGIONS

Ministry of Tribal Affairs MALNUTRITION DEATHS IN TRIBAL REGIONS प्रव तथ: 04 DEC 2025 5:44PM by PIB Delhi As per information received from Ministry of Women and Child Development, it is stated that under the 15th Finance Commission, various components like Anganwadi services, Poshan Abhiyaan and Scheme for Adolescent girls (of 14-18 years in Aspirational Districts and North-Eastern region) have been subsumed under the umbrella Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 (Mission Poshan 2.0) to address the challenge of malnutrition. It is a Centrally Sponsored mission, where the responsibility for implementation of various activities lies with the States and UTs. This mission is a universal self- selecting umbrella scheme where there are no entry barriers for any beneficiary to register and receive services. This mission is being implemented across the country including in all the tribal areas. Under Mission Poshan 2.0 a new strategy has been made for reduction in malnutrition and for improved health, wellness and immunity through activities like community engagement, outreach, behavioural change, and advocacy. It focuses on Maternal Nutrition, Infant and Young Child Feeding Norms, treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM)/ Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) and wellness through Ayush practices to reduce prevalence of wasting, stunting, and being underweight. Under this mission, Supplementary Nutrition is provided to Children (6 months to 6 years), Pregnant Women, Lactating Mothers and Adolescent Girls to beat the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition by adopting a life cycle approach. Supplementary nutrition is provided in accordance with the nutrition norms contained in Schedule-Il of the NFSA. These norms have been revised in January 2023. The old norms were largely calorie-specific; however, the revised norms are more comprehensive and balanced in terms of both quantity and quality of supplementary nutrition based on the principles of diet diversity that provides for quality protein, healthy fats and micronutrients. Extra Supplementary Nutrition is provided to Severely Acutely Malnourished (SAM) children as per National Food Security Act (NFSA). Fortified rice is being supplied to AWCs to meet the requirement of micro-nutrients and to control anemia among women and children. Greater emphasis is being laid on the use of millets at least once a week for preparation of Hot Cooked Meal and Take-Home ration at Anganwadi centers. Ministries of Women & Child Development and Health & Family Welfare have jointly released the protocol for Community Management of Malnutrition (CMAM) to prevent and treat severely acute malnutrition in children and for reducing associated morbidity and mortality. Under this Mission, one of the major activities undertaken is Community Mobilization and Awareness Advocacy to educate people on nutritional aspects as adoption of good nutrition habit requires sustained efforts for behavioural change. State and UTS are conducting and reporting regular sensitization activities under Jan Andolans during Poshan Maahs and Poshan Pakhwadas celebrated in the months of September and March-April respectively. Community Based Events (CBEs) have served as a significant strategy in changing nutritional practices and all Anganwadi workers are required to conduct two Community Based Events every month.Under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0, as on date, 2 lakh Anganwadi Centres have been approved to be upgraded as Saksham Anganwadis for improved nutrition delivery and for imparting early childhood care and education. Saksham Anganwadis are provided with better infrastructure than the conventional Anganwadi Centres which includes internet/Wi-Fi connectivity, LED screens, water purifier/installation of RO Machine and smart learning equipment. The Government has also taken a policy decision to upgrade all Mini AWCs to a full-fledged Anganwadi Centres with one worker and one helper each to help in carrying out various responsibilities under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 including responsibilities related to Early Childhood Care & Education. Sanction for upgradation of 1,11,363 Mini AWCs to main AWCs has been issued as on 31.10.2025. Various rounds of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted by Ministry of Health & Family Welfare since 1992-93 have shown improvement in malnutrition indicators in children across India. Details of these indicators for children since NFHS-I to NFHS-5 are given below: NFHS Survey Stunting Underweight Wasting NFHS-I (1992-93) 52 53.4 17.5 NFHS-2 (1998-99) 45.5 47 15.5 NFHS-3 (2005-06) 48.0 42.5 19.8 NFHS-4 (2015-16) 38.4 35.8 21.0 NFHS-5 (2019-21) 35.5 32.1 19.3 Poshan Tracker Data of children measured in 33 14 5 Anganwadis (Oct 2025)*** * Under 4 years ** Under 3 years *** Under 5 years The above table about NFHS-I to NFHS-5 gives a representative picture of malnutrition indicators among all children of 0-3 years, 0-4 years and 0-5 years age at the relevant time. The Poshan Tracker data gives malnutrition details only about children 0-5 years who are enrolled in the Anganwadis and are measured for height and weight. The total projected population of all children up to 5 years in India for the year 2021 is 13.75 crores approximately (source: Population Projections for India and States 2011-2036, National Commission on Population, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare). However, only 6.64 crores children up to 5 years were enrolled in Anganwadis and registered on Poshan Tracker of the Ministry of Women & Child Development as per the Oct 2025 data. 6.44 crores of these children were measured on growth parameters of height and weight. 33% of them have been found to be stunted, 14% have been found to be underweight and 5% wasted.The analysis of the above NFHS data and the Poshan Tracker data shows improvement in malnutrition indicators in children across India. The State/UT wise data on Stunting, wasting and underweight can be accessed from the link: https://www.poshantracker.in/statistics. Details of status of funds released for last five years to States and UTS under Saksham Anganwadi and Mission Poshan 2.0 are placed at Annexure. Annexure Details of funds released under Mission Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 during last five years: (Rs.in Crore) Name of the State 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 (Till 31.10.2025) Funds Funds Funds Funds released Funds released released released released 1 Andaman and 19.71 3.85 12.15 9.63 4.73 Nicobar Islands 2 Andhra Pradesh 744.6 827.79 705.68 645.73 350.41 3 Arunachal Pradesh 170.83 137.78 162.06 102.61 109.66 4 Assam 1319.9 1651.63 2233.31 2482.34 877.5 5 Bihar 1574.43 1740.09 1859.29 2262.92 878.71 6 Chandigarh 15.32 33.1 19.79 14.56 5.94 7 Chhattisgarh 606.73 668.96 579.46 733.3 324.44 8 DN & DD 9.33 5.8 11.97 9.13 3.6 9 Delhi 133.11 182.77 161.81 160.41 131.88 10 Goa 10.84 14.71 13.95 13.44 1 1.16 11 Gujarat 839.86 912.64 1126.8 601.32 337.53 12 Haryana 173.03 195.25 225.78 232.69 43.3513 Himachal Pradesh 247.99 270.24 301.09 313.07 174.52 14 Jammu & Kashmir 405.74 479.01 530.88 662.79 256.89 15 Jharkhand 352.98 430.91 664.3 496.95 384.18 16 Karnataka 1003.7 765.87 912.96 886.85 512.35 17 Kerala 388.23 444.98 306.64 435.74 98.77 18 Ladakh 14.7 18.79 19.62 18.89 13.58 19 Lakshadweep 2.11 0.44 2.88 1.35 0.57 20 Madhya Pradesh 1085.47 1011.57 1123.11 1144.54 725.56 21 Maharashtra 1713.39 1646.17 1699.52 1368.84 911 22 Manipur 228.92 135.95 201.28 342.8 133.15 23 Meghalaya 173.33 192.39 269.69 137.93 66.18 24 Mizoram 59.32 42.81 100.27 55.29 32.57 25 Nagaland 159.8 199.3 262.91 147.01 62.67 26 Odisha 1065.98 923.92 968.8 948,16 699 46 27 Puducherry 2.78 0.12 4.48 3.68 2.55 28 Punjab 383.52 75.31 307.87 265.48 124.14 29 Rajasthan 682.65 974.02 1091.96 741.85 640.60 30 Sikkim 25.73 20.33 33.49 18.07 8.93 31 Tamil Nadu 655.38 766.81 880.79 638.47 460.17 32 Telangana 482.33 550.69 507.87 430.76 52.21 33 Tripura 186.72 150.52 244.22 153.41 123.9 34 Uttar Pradesh 2407.55 2721.87 2668.69 2694.62 1802.4935 Uttarakhand 353.65 425.84 288.24 216.33 194.2 36 West Bengal 668.35 1227.59 1237.56 1513.8 1033.41 Total 18368 19849.8 21741.2 20904.8 11593.3 ***** RN (रलीज़ आईडी: 2198848) आगंतुक पटल : 355 इस वज्ञ को इन भाषाओ ंम पढ़: Urdu , ही