With food prices going northward, a cup of coffee in Bangalore, on an average, costs Rs. 10 today. In such a situation, how well can a child in an anganwadi in Karnataka be fed on an allocation of Rs. 4 per day?
While anganwadi workers in Karnataka are struggling to provide nutritious diet to children on Rs. 3.90 (with 10 paise spent on transport), the neighbouring State of Tamil Nadu spends an average of about Rs. 8 on each child's food.
Calorie gap
This has, predictably, resulted in a gap between the prescribed calorie and protein intake for children and what is being supplied. While the prescribed nutrition per day is 15 grams of protein and 500 calories for children below the age of 6, those in the anganwadis of Karnataka get only 7.83 grams of protein and 228 calories.
What has brought about this situation is not any discrimination in allocation by the Union Government, but what the State Governments are willing to pitch in additionally.
Both Karnataka and Tamil Nadu get a unit allocation of Rs. 2 from the Centre under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) to feed children in anganwadis. In addition to this, Tamil Nadu Government provides between Rs. 1.14 to Rs. 5.50 per child, depending on age and nutrition status, while Karnataka Government gives only Rs. 2.
Waking up to this, the Department of Women and Child Development has submitted a proposal to the Finance Department to hike the unit cost by Rs. 2 per beneficiary per day, which will translate to an additional allocation of Rs. 290 crore per year.
One of the three sub-committees appointed by the Government to look at the various aspects on child malnutrition in Karnataka, following a public interest litigation petition in the High Court, had observed that there was a need to increase the allocation on a par with States like Tamil Nadu. “Indeed the ICDS budget needs to be calculated realistically and holistically and made the first charge on the State's resources,” said the report.
In it submission made to the High Court, the Karnataka Government has admitted that it is not able to meet the prescribed caloric requirement with the present allocation. It had said that all States had also appealed to the Centre to hike allocation.
