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Public health activists and researchers in Karnataka believe that malnutrition symptoms among children from socially and economically weaker sections worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. This, they say, is because of the “lackadaisical” approach by the state’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in providing nutrition to children dependent on mid-day meals in government schools and Anganwadi Centres (AWCs). During the pandemic-induced lockdowns, when anganwadis and schools were closed, the state government had allegedly failed to make adequate alternative arrangements to ensure children received nutritious meals.
However, according to a report released on April 17 by Bahutva Karnataka, a coalition of progressive groups, malnutrition levels in Karnataka were concerning even before the pandemic. Citing data from National Family Health Survey 5 (NFHS-5) for 2019-21, the report said that nearly 35% of children under the age of five in Karnataka were stunted (having low height for their age), and nearly 33% were reported to be underweight (having low weight for their age). The report also indicated other worrying statistics for Karnataka. For instance, only 13% of children who are 6-23 months old received a proper nutritional diet, while nearly 66% of children under 5 years suffered from anaemia, according to NFHS-5.
The Bahutva Karnataka report points to many issues with the implementation of food security schemes, the public distribution system (PDS), mid-day meal programmes and most importantly, the role played by caste and communal groups in disrupting access to nutrition.
Speaking to TNM about the malnutrition complications among children under the age of five in Karnataka, public health researcher Dr Sylvia Karpagam said that one of the major reasons for this is the denial of food security to many pregnant women doing informal work.
According to the National Food Security Act (NFSA), pregnant women, lactating mothers and children in the age group of six months to 14 years are entitled to meals as per prescribed nutritional norms under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Mid-Day Meal (MDM) schemes.
“Mothers have the right to take leave from work and breastfeed their child for the first six months after delivery. They are also entitled to maternity benefits of up to Rs 6,000 for these six months. Several women are unable to access this amount, which is paltry in the first place, due to various reasons such as not having a bank account or the requisite documents,” said Dr Sylvia. Because of this, many women are forced to go to work soon after delivery, which means their children do not get adequate breast milk and thus miss out on important nutrition sources from the start, she added.
According to Bahutva Karnataka, even the PDS, which is considered to be the most crucial food security scheme in India, is not accessible to many. This is despite the fact that only cereals and pulses are provided through this system. The report found that this is mainly because many families do not have the Below Poverty Line (BPL) ration cards, which are necessary to access the scheme. Since NFSA still uses 2011 census data, many eligible families are excluded from the benefits of Union government-funded schemes such as the PDS and the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY).
“The government should ensure universal coverage of these food security schemes, similar to that of other states like Tamil Nadu. Irrespective of whether they have a BPL card or not, people should be able to access these schemes for at least a limited period of time, say for five years,” said Dr Sylvia.
According to Bahutva Karnataka’s report, even after the reopening of anganwadis and schools after the lockdowns, the Karnataka government failed to provide mid-day meals in many places, causing many students to drop out of school. Speaking to TNM, Siddharth Joshi, a Bengaluru-based researcher who works with the food rights organisation Ahara Namma Hakku, said that the severity of this neglect can only be understood through a large-scale post-pandemic survey.
“Although anganwadis in the state have started to function again after closing during the pandemic, many of them are yet to provide proper meals to children citing a lack of volunteers. Earlier, there were proper medical check-ups in schools to assess various health parameters of students, but that has also stopped now,” said Siddharth.
The Bahutva Karnataka report also found that some anganwadis in the state do not have adequate funds, as the state government often fails to release them on time. In some cases, the food prepared in the anganwadis failed to meet children’s nutritional requirements, as it was mostly cereal-based with very little nutritional value.
Researchers and activists argue that subsidised milk, eggs and meat — which are major sources of protein and among the key answers to fighting malnutrition — should be provided to students in anganwadis and public schools. This is where religious and caste groups interfere in the Karnataka government’s approach to food and nutrition policies.
“Science is often not the basis of deciding policies with regard to nutrition and health in Karnataka,” says Dr Sylvia Karpagam.
In November 2021, the BJP government in Karnataka had announced that eggs would be provided to government school students in Classes 1 to 8 as part of the mid-day meal scheme. But immediately after this announcement, the government had to reconsider the decision due to pressure from several Lingayat seers and Hindu religious leaders, who claimed that distributing eggs would influence the ‘food culture’ of the state. Some of them suggested that the government could instead give the money that was set aside for eggs directly to the students, in cash. Some of them even suggested incorrectly that milk and fruits could act as a substitute for the protein intake from eggs.
However, in July 2022, a study commissioned by the Karnataka government found that the inclusion of eggs in the mid-day meal in seven districts had improved the students’ nutrition levels. After this study, the government decided to provide eggs as part of the mid-day meal scheme across the state. “However, the quantity is inadequate and still not distributed in schools where food is supplied by Akshaya Patra Foundation,” said the Bahutva Karnataka report. As of now, the Karnataka government is providing eggs only for 47 days in a year.
Back in 2018, the Akshaya Patra Foundation (APF), affiliated to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was given the contract to supply food across various districts in Karnataka. However, Akshaya Patra promotes sattvic foods which exclude onion, garlic, meat, poultry and eggs.
Narasimhappa TV, a researcher who focuses on child development, said that such alternatives cannot make up for the positive impact on children that eggs or meat can have. He also noted that the majority of the students who depend on public schools and government-aided schools for mid-day meals belong to Dalit, tribal and Other Backward Classes (OBC) communities, who consume onion, garlic and meat in their diet.
Siddharth also said that The Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, has negatively affected the livelihoods of farmers, traders and butchers. Enacted in January 2021, the Act makes it illegal to transport, slaughter, and trade all cattle including cows, bulls, and oxen. This has made access to beef, which is a high-protein food, difficult for marginalised, low-income groups.
“Apathy is the best way to describe the way in which successive governments of Karnataka tackled the malnutrition crisis. But the ideological bend of the current regime has ensured that the situation was made worse,” said Siddharth.