Every few months, news from the Women and Child Development Ministry gives an indication that the minister, Maneka Gandhi, is interested in overhauling India’s nutrition scheme for children and women.
Her stand is at odds with her own ministry, with orders of the Supreme Court and with legislation. Yet she has continued to push for the replacement of fresh, hot, cooked food with ‘nutrient packets’ in India’s Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS).
The Hindu reported last week that once again, Gandhi has asked for her ministry to consider “energy-dense, factory-made” nutrient packets as take-home ration to beneficiary families, instead of sourcing fresh and cooked food from women’s self-help groups, which is the status quo.
Some 188 academics, activists and people working in the area of health and nutrition for children and women have written to her with their concerns over her continued push towards processed food. Their letter reads,
For years, the Right to Food Campaign has been fighting the battle against the role of private contractors in the supply of supplementary nutrition in the ICDS. In state after state it has been seen that the unholy nexus between the contractors and politicians/bureaucrats result in central contracts worth hundreds of crores for supply of food to ICDS. The quality of food supplied to the centres is compromised while companies make profits from the meagre allocation on supplementary nutrition. Recent scams related to the above have been brought to light in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
The letter has been signed by people at many well-known organisations, such as the Right to Food Campaign, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, the Public Health Resource Network, Sahaj, Sahayog, Saheli, the All India Democratic Women’s Association, Haq, the Centre for Equity Studies, Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest, Greenpeace, National Law School of India University, Ambedkar University and the Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation.
India’s ICDS programme discharges two important functions simultaneously: It provides food to infants (children under the age of six) and women who are pregnant or lactating.
On the Global Hunger Index, India was placed at a shameful 100 out of 119 countries last year.
The right to food in India has been upheld by the Supreme Court in various orders, drawing from a public interest litigation filed in 2001 by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties. The Supreme Court appointed a monitoring group to ensure that their directions are indeed implemented. The court has also passed very specific directions over the years, including one that banned private contractors from taking control of the ICDS supply chain.
Now, Gandhi’s proposal would bring private contractors into the ICDS.
In 2013, the Indian parliament enacted the National Food Security Act. The new letter addressed to Gandhi reminds her of the existing legal framework on the issue: “We request you not to give in to the interest of profit and continue to abide by the letter and spirit of the National Food Security Act in providing locally made take home rations to children in the anganwadi centres.”
The Wire had reported in September 2017, that Maneka Gandhi, NITI Aayog and her ministry were all at odds with each other on this issue.
At that time as well, Gandhi had been recommending nutrient packets to her ministry. NITI Aayog was recommending cash transfers and an associated pilot project. But the Women and Child Development Ministry itself had been publicly discussing its achievements in providing fresh cooked food. The ministry has also filed affidavits in various courts saying that they will continue to uphold the provision of fresh cooked food.
@Narendramodi_PM @Manekagandhibjp @MinistryWCD @NITIAayog
Is the WCD contemplation of involving manufacturers against the aspiration of the Department and Supreme Court’s directions? and Is packaged food prepared months ago more nutritious? pic.twitter.com/DPRKBGBZQg— Dipika Sahani (@dipika_sahani) April 17, 2018
Shortly after, The Wire also reported that the government had again clarified that the latter was not doing away with fresh cooked food. Then, in October 2017, the women and child development ministry issued a press release reiterating that it was not doing away with cooked food.
There is no proposal to discontinue Supplementary Nutrition Program under ICDS and replace it with Conditional Cash Transfer: @MinistryWCD pic.twitter.com/OdqjfK6bdA
— Ministry of WCD (@MinistryWCD) October 12, 2017
Rakesh Srivastava, secretary to the Women and Child Development Ministry, had said in September 2017, “There is no plan to remove hot cooked meals. It is a part of the National Food Security Act. The role of anganwadis in cooking hot meals for children and women is specified in Section 5 and 6 of the Act. The central ministry provides only guidelines to the states. But states cannot violate the Act. If they do, they can be taken to court.”
On Thursday, the NITI Aayog conducted the first meeting of the ‘National Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges.’ The body’s vice chairman, Rajiv Kumar, said, “NITI Aayog will work to rank the states on their efforts to reduce malnutrition.”
#NITIAayog will work to rank the states on their efforts to reduce malnutrition. This will help continuously monitor the implementation of #POSHANAbhiyaan: VC @RajivKumar, addressing the first meeting of National Council on India's Nutrition Challenges pic.twitter.com/5mfTWwD3ZR
— NITI Aayog (@NITIAayog) April 18, 2018