The magnitude of problem of malnutrition among children and anaemia amongst women in India, including Gujarat, is borne by the fact that 41 per cent of children are underweight and 55 per cent women are anaemic.

These grim realities were revealed by the Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development, Ms Krishna Tirath, in the Rajya Sabha in reply to a question raised by Mr Parimal Nathwani, Jharkhand MP and group President of Reliance Industries Ltd.

According to the Third National Family Health Survey of 2005-06, as many as 40.4 per cent of children under three years of age were underweight and 55.3 per cent women in the age group of 15-49 years in the country were anaemic. In Gujarat, the numbers matched the national average, at 41.1 per cent underweight kids and 55.3 per cent anaemic women of 15-45 years, according to a statement from Mr Nathwani's office here.

During the Eleventh Plan, the Union Government spent Rs 43,829.53 crore as against the budgetary allocation of Rs 43,186.70 crore on the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme. The Government introduced two new schemes during 2010-11, namely the Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (RGSEAG) known as SABLA and the Indira Gandhi Matrutva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY). The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was also introduced during Plan.

The minister, however, made it clear that the responsibility of implementation of most of the Government schemes lay with the State Governments/union territories administration. The States have been advised from time to time to set up State Nutrition Council and other mechanisms to address the issue of malnutrition, she said.

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