India: Response to the National Advisory Committee

For Immediate Release

February 22, 2011

A Statement from a Joint Working Group of the Right to Food Campaign
and Jan Swasthya Abhiyan forwarded by the Asian Human Rights
Commission

INDIA: Response to the National Advisory Committee's Framework Note
on Draft National Food Security Bill

Child undernutrition levels in India are among the highest in the
world. This situation has been tolerated for too long, and the
National Food Security Act is a unique opportunity for radical change
in this field. Even though the National Advisory Committee (NAC) has
made some welcome ecommendations, we are dismayed to note that
children entitlements have been completely sidelined by the
Expert Committee appointed by the Prime Minister (chaired by Dr.
C. Rangarajan).

Over one third of children have low birth weights, and by the age of
1-2 years nearly half are underweight, and close to 80% are anaemic.
These appalling figures are associated with equally dismal nutrition
indicators among adult women, especially pregnant or lactating women.
Ensuring children’s right to food depends upon the existence of
comprehensive and universal minimum entitlements of all households to
food and nutrition including a universal PDS. Further, specific
actions are required for children based on age-appropriate strategies
as have been elaborated upon by the Right to Food Campaign in its
draft Food Entitlements Act. One of the main shortcomings of the NAC
framework is its failure to protect the universality of the
entitlements to food in general, whereas it does better in terms of
spelling out entitlements for children.

Some of these entitlements are already included, wholly or partly, in
a series of Supreme Court orders on the right to food. These orders
must be incorporated in toto in the draft Act, as a basic first step
towards the protection of children’s right to food. Beyond this, the
NFSA must create and safeguard new entitlements.

The NAC has in fact adopted many of the recommendations of the Right
to Food Campaign and also broken new ground in spelling out some
important preconditions for actualisation of children’s right to
food such as stating, “Any child below the age of 14 years may
approach any feeding facility ... for a freshly cooked nutritious
meal, and will not be turned away on any ground†and laying out a
well thought out grievance redressal mechanism.

However, the NAC framework falls short on many counts. For instance,
adolescent girls have not been included in the NAC draft, in spite of
a far-reaching Supreme Court order dated 13 December 2006, directing
Governments to universalize the ICDS, in the specific sense of
“extending all ICDS services (supplementary nutrition, growth
monitoring, nutrition and health education, immunization, referral and
preschool education) to every child under the age of 6, all pregnant
women and lactating mothers and all adolescent girlsâ€. It is
impossible to understand the grounds or logic upon which an already
existing legal entitlement for a group of children has been omitted in
the proposed NAC framework.

The NAC has also fallen short of laying out the reforms required in
the existing programmes such as ICDS, to meet these entitlements. For
e.g. there is no mention of ensuring adequate human resources, better
training, improving conditions of work for anganwadi workers,
providing required financial investments for adequate infrastructure
and quality improvements, enhancing the quality of supplementary
nutrition through introduction of animal proteins, conducting
awareness campaigns etc.

On the other hand in the case of maternity entitlements though the
NAC has extended beyond Supreme Court orders by recommending universal
benefits, it has only committed a half-hearted Rs. 1000 per month for
six months which is not in consonance with rights available to women
in the formal sector. At the very least maternity benefits should be
linked to existing wages to prevent an inequity being created in the
law. Provision of skilled breastfeeding counselling, maternity
benefits and child care facilities must be seen as enabling conditions
for food security.

Meanwhile, the Rangarajan Committee did not even acknowledge the
recommendations of the NAC pertaining to children leave alone respond
to them. The Committee’s report, submitted to the Prime Minister on
7 January 2011, focuses exclusively on the Public Distribution System
(PDS), that too in an obstructive mode. This blind spot jars with the
Expert Committee’s opening recognition of the “disturbing
statistics†of nutritional deficiencies in India, and of the
potential of the proposed Act as “the most important national effort
yet to address these deficienciesâ€.

The Government must recognise that children are citizens of today
whose nutritional rights have been grossly violated for far too long
and who must not be kept waiting any longer. We demand that the NAC
rectifies its recommendations in relation to children’s right to
food and that these be incorporated into the law. Such a law must also
guarantee sufficiency of funds for its effective implementation.

We reiterate our demand for full-fledged inclusion of the
entitlements below in the NFSA.

I. Infant and Young Child Feeding

1. Breastfeeding support: Every mother shall be provided with all
support services required for exclusive breastfeeding up to six
months, including: (a) Skill counselling during pregnancy (b)
Practical and skilled support at time of birth for initiating
breastfeeding (c) On-going support during first six months through
maternity entitlements and (d) Monthly visits by a skilled worker
during the first six months after delivery. That means India needs a
plan, a budget and coordination to realize infants right to food.

2. No promotion of baby foods and foods for children under six years:
No person shall take part in the promotion of any commercial foods
meant for children, directly or indirectly. Promotion of baby foods or
infant milk substitutes, using any kind of media, gifts and other
incentives such as sponsorship, seminars and workshops for health
personnel, distribution of child health cards or other material
related to infant and young child health using manufacturer’s logo,
name, etc., by public or private companies, shall not be allowed at
any level either with the public or with professionals. The provisions
of this Act shall be in addition to the Infant Milk Substitutes (IMS)
Act, 2003. In the case of any conflict the latter Act shall prevail.

3. Take-home rations: All pregnant and nursing women and all children
in the age group of 6 months to 3 years shall be provided weekly
take-home rations that can be locally prepared and meet minimum
nutrition norms, with adequate animal proteins (milk, eggs, meat,
fish) as well as fats, fruit and vegetables. The take-home rations
shall be provided for at least 300 days in a year. No private
contractors shall be used for the supply of take-home rations. In the
event that the family is unable to collect the ration, it will be
delivered to the home of the infant/young child.

II. Children Aged 0-6 Years

1. Universalization of ICDS: All children in the age group of 0-6
years shall be entitled to basic nutrition, health and pre-school
education services under the Integrated Child Development Services
(ICDS).

2. Basic services: These basic services shall include all child
development services available under ICDS as of 1 April 2009, namely:
(1) supplementary nutrition; (2) immunization; (2) health checkups;
(4) referral services; (5) growth monitoring and promotion; (6)
pre-school education.

3. Anganwadis for all: For the purpose of providing ICDS services, a
full fledged Anganwadi shall be made available in every habitation of
at least 300 persons. There shall be no ceiling on the number of
children to be enrolled in a particular Anganwadi, and no eligibility
criterion other than age. In habitations of less than 300 persons,
ICDS services shall be provided through extension services or
mini-Anganwadis, linked with the nearest Anganwadi.

4. Anganwadis on demand: Rural communities and slum dwellers shall be
entitled to an “Anganwadi on demand†(not later than three months
from the date of demand) in cases where a settlement has at least 40
children under the age of six years but no Anganwadi.

5. Cooked mid-day meal: It shall be the duty of all Anganwadis to
provide a hot, cooked, nutritious mid-day meal to children who attend
the Anganwadi every day of the year, except during holidays (and in
any case for at least 300 days).

6. No private contractors: The mid-day meal under ICDS shall be
cooked on the Anganwadi premises, using local foods, without the
involvement of any private contractor.

7. Inclusion: Special provisions shall be made for the inclusion of
marginalized children in ICDS, including disabled children, street
children, and children of migrant families.

8. Minimum Facilities: Each Anganwadi shall have the following
minimum facilities:

a. At least two Anganwadi workers and one Anganwadi helper.

b. Its own, independent pacca building.

c. Weighing scales required for different age groups.

d. A medical kit with basic drugs (including ORS and IFA
tablets/syrup).

e. A kitchen with adequate ventilation, utensils, storage facilities,
etc.

f. Child-friendly toilets

g. Safe drinking water as well as adequate water for cleaning

h. Plates in sufficient quantity for all children.

i. Toys and teaching material for pre-school education.

III. Identification and treatment of acute malnutrition:

1. Anganwadi workers under ICDS will be imparted suitable training to
identify children with growth faltering, including those who are
severe acute malnourished (SAM), and referring them for further
treatment and nutrition education. In the event of any complaint or
other alert of the possibility of a child suffering from severe
malnutrition in the Gram Panchayat, it shall be the duty of the
Anganwadi worker to investigate the situation and refer the mother and
child to a nutrition rehabilitation centre if required.

2. Nutrition Rehabilitation Centres (NRCs) shall be set up in every
District within one year and in every Primary Health Centre within
five years of this Act coming into force.

3. All children with growth faltering referred to NRCs shall be
entitled to free treatment at the nearest NRC, for as long as may be
required to restore them to good health. During this period, the
mother of the concerned child shall also be entitled to free board and
lodging at or near the same NRC.

4. Any therapeutic food that is provided for the treatment of SAM
shall be domestically produced with a special effort being made to
procure the food locally, without the involvement of private
contractors.

IV. School Meals

1. Cooked mid-day meals: It shall be the duty of all government and
government-aided schools to provide a hot, cooked, nutritious mid-day
meal to children up to Class 10 every day of the year, except during
school holidays (and in any case for at least 200 days).

2. Droughts and disasters: At times of drought or natural or
human-made disasters, mid-day meals shall also be provided during
school holidays.

3. Weekly menu: The mid-day meal shall have a different menu on each
day of the week. The weekly menu shall be prominently painted on the
walls of the school, along with a functional Helpline number.

4. Nutrition norms: The nutrition content of the mid-day meal should
be such as to meet minimum nutrition norms (calories, proteins etc.)

5. No private contractors: In rural areas, the mid-day meal shall be
cooked on the school premises, using local foods. Private contractors
shall not be allowed to supply the meal.

6. Minimum facilities: For the purpose of effective and hygienic
provision of the mid-day meal, every government or government-aided
primary school (or school with a primary section) in rural areas shall
have the following minimum facilities:

a. A kitchen shed with adequate ventilation, utensils, storage
facilities, etc.

b. At least one cook and helper, earning the minimum wage applicable
to NREGA workers.

c. Toilets

d. Safe drinking water as well as adequate water for cleaning.

e. Plates in sufficient quantity for all children.

7. Social equity: Mid-day meal cooks and helpers shall be women from
the local community. Preference shall be given to single women and
SC/ST women in the appointment of cooks and helpers; in such a way
that at least half of them are from these disadvantaged groups.

V. Financial Allocations: Different recipes for take home rations and
mid day meals in ICDS and schools should be finalized by nutritionists
such that nutritional norms are met. The financial allocations should
be based on this and further, inflation indexed. There should be
special financial allocation as a separate ‘budget line’ (as for
immunisation) under child related schemes for protection, promotion
and support of breastfeeding of infants to realise infants’ right to
food.

ENDS

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