Right to Food and Nutrition

The Planning Commission has termed the hunger index for Madhya Pradesh as extremely alarming. The state was ranked 11 in 1994. In 2008, its ranking has fallen to 17. “It clearly signifies that Madhya Pradesh has undergone deterioration in its position with respect to poverty alleviation,” the annual plan document of the state for 2009-10 pointed out. According to the National Family Health Survey, percentage of underweight children in MP under 3 years old has increased from 53.5% in 1996 to 60.3% in 2006. Between these two surveys the percentage of anemic children in M.P. has increased from 71.3 to 82.6 percent. Other problems related to malnutrition like Neo Natal Death (44.9%), Infant Mortality Rate (70%), Child Mortality under 5 Years (94.2%), anemia among children under the age of 5 years (74.1%) are also prevalent. On this background Jan Sahas Started campaign on right to food and nutrition with Tribal and Dalit community in 2 district of the state.