Gujarat High Court bullet train judgment dubbed bad in law, spirit, undesirable

September 23, 2019

Well-known environmentalist and human rights activist Rohit Prajapati, in a “quick comment” on the Gujarat High Court’s Judgment on the acquisition of land for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet 508 km-long Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train project, has said that the judgment dated September 19, is “bad in law, spirit and undesirable”.

Prajapati, who was one of the top activists who represented before the Japanese funders of the project, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) expressing concern over the manner in which farmers were allegedly sought to be evicted, regretted that the judgment “reads like a recording of the proceeding and at the end opinion of the court and not like a well-conceived comprehensive judicial order.

According to him, “Crucial principles of the law of the land, legal and other issues raised in the Petition are not dealt within proper legal framework, either in letter or in spirit”, adding, “Acritical and complex matter has been narrowed down to simple opinion by the court without a sound basis, critical examination of all the facts, factors, democratic process of decision making, social and environmental impacts.”

Prajapati, who heads the Vadodara-based environmental organization, Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, believes, “All in all, the judgment not only sets a bad precedent, but also has severe and grave impacts as well as short and long-term consequences for the project affected people, justice and the environment (including biodiversity).”

Rohit Prajapati

In what has been interpreted as a setback to farmers in Gujarat, the High Court on September 20, junked more than a 100 petitions challenging the land acquisition process for the ambitious bullet train project on grounds of “inadequate” compensation. In their petitions, farmers had challenged the Gujarat government’s notification for the acquisition of their land, contending that the State had no power to acquire land for a multi-state project like that of the bullet train.

The bench, consisting of Justices Anant Dave and Biren Vaishnav, upheld the validity of the Land Acquisition Act, amended by the Gujarat government in 2016, and declined to entertain the petitions challenging the land acquisition for project. Gujarat government sources said, the judgment clears a major hurdle in the way of the ambitious project.
According to them, by upholding the validity of the Gujarat amendment of 2016 to the Centre’s land acquisition law, the High Court recognized that it is a multi-state project, but the Centre has executive powers, which have been given to the state government, to acquire land. Before the amendment, the court noted, the state had no such power, but things changed in 2016.

The court also rejected the farmers’ plea for conducting social impact assessment (SIA), justifying the state’s move to the skip mandatory provisions, which were part of the 2013 Central law. It justified the SIA process carried out under JICA guidelines as “appropriate and satisfactory.”

An estimated 5,000 of the total 6,900 farmers affected by the project are said to have registered objections to the land acquisition process initiated by state authorities.About 1,000 farmers, while the hearing was ongoing, had filed a one-page affidavit registering their objection on the land acquisition process, demanding the nature of compensation should be aligned with the Centre’s land acquisition law.

First published in https://www.counterview.net

Who is Chinmayananda?

September 23, 2019

On September 20, self-proclaimed holy man, former Union Minister and BJP MP Chinmayanand, was arrested and remanded to 14 days judicial custody following allegations of sexual exploitation by a female student of an educational institution run by him. The accusations were made by a law student from Chinmayanand’s SS Law College in a video she posted on social media on August 23.

In the video the girl said, “A prominent leader of the ‘saint society’ has destroyed lives of several girls. He is now threatening my life. I have all the evidence.” She sought help from Prime Minister Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minsiter Adityanath. She added, “He has threatened to kill my family too.” The very next day, the girl went missing from her hostel.

She resurfaced subsequently in Rajasthan after the Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance after lawyers raised concerns and asked the police to produce her. On September 30, judges heard her in a closed hearing. She has now submitted 40 video clips as evidence before the Special Investigation Team formed to probe the case. She also recorded a formal statement where she said that Chinmayanand had been sexually exploiting her for 9 months. She said he had raped her, made a video of the crime, made another video of her bathing, and blackmailed her with a video clip.

Confession and counter-allegations
After being taken into custody, Chinmayanand reportedly confessed to having sexual conversations with the girl and getting a ‘body massage’ from her. A video of the said body massage went viral on social media. Chinmayanand reportedly also said he was ashamed of himself for his conduct. He was booked under charges of stalking, criminal intimidation, wrongful confinement and sexual intercourse by a person in authority (section 376 C).

But in a cruel twist of fate, the girl in question has also been booked for ‘extortion’! She is accused of teaming up with three men; Sanjay Singh, Sachin Sengar and Vikram to extort Rs 5 crore from Chinmayanand. All three have been arrested.

So, who exactly is Chinmayanand. From where does he get his power, and whose patronage does he enjoy to be able to confess to his crime and yet have the victim booked in a counter case?

Chinmayananda: The early years
Born Krishna Pal Singh in 1947 in Gonda, Chinmayanand reportedly left home at the age of 20 to become a disciple of Dharmanand, a ‘swami’ who established the Shri Shankar Mumuksh Vidyapeeth in Shahjajanpur, purportedly to counter the influence of convent schools. Dharmanand’s predecessor Sukhdevanand had established the Swami Sukhdevanand Post Graduate College (SSPG) that Chinmayanand runs today.

After completing his spiritual education, Chinmayanand not only became actively involved in his teacher’s pet educational projects and also got involved with various political movements including the JP movement and the Ram Janm Bhoomi movement.

Chinmayanand and the Ram Mandir movement
Throughout the 1980s, Chinmayanand was closely associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad led movement to build a grand temple to the Hindu deity Ram. Educational institutions controlled by Chinmayanand and others like him helped promote their ideas about Hindu values, that eventually helped mobilise support for the movement. For his role, he was rewarded with an elevation among the ranks to becoming the national convener of the Ram Janm Bhoomi Mukti Sangharsh Samiti.

He ended up getting close to everyone from Ashok Singhal, to Lal Krishna Advani. In fact, on November 9, 1989, Chinmayanand presided over an important religious ceremony during the foundation stone laying or ‘shilanyas’ for the proposed Ram temple. This ceremony took place just a short distance away from the disputed structure.
In 2009, the Liberhan Commission report named him as one of the key accused behind the conspiracy to demolish the mosque.

Previous allegation of rape
In 2011, another woman had made similar allegations against Chinmayanand. She said he had raped and sexually exploited her for years at the Haridwar ashram run by him. On November 30, 2011, an FIR was lodged at the Kotwali police station in Shahjahanpur by the survivor’s father. Chinmayanand obtained a stay from the High Court that prevented his arrest. But, in March 2018, the Adityanath government withdrew charges against him.

Not just this, one of Chinmayanad’s schools, Sri Shankar Mumukshu Vidyapeeth (SSMV) in Shahjahanpur, also allegedly fabricated school records of the rape survivor in the Asaram case in a bid to show that the girl was 18 at the time of the assault, all in an alleged bid to help Asaram dodge charges against POCSO.

Political power and protection
His proximity to right-wing supremacist political heavyweights and his ability to further their cultural agenda using educational institutes helped launch Chinmayanand’s political career. The communal turmoil, both before and after the Babri Mosque demolition, helped consolidate his vote bank and his place in the higher echelons of political power.

Chinmayanand is a three-time BJP MP winning from Jaunpur and Macchlishahr. Throughout his three stints in Parliament, he has been a vociferous advocate for the Ram Mandir. In fact, in December 2000, Chinmayanad and Adityanath both raised the matter in Parliament. Chinmayanand had been closely associated with Adityanath’s guru Avaidynath during the 1980s. Later Chinmayanand went on to manage the Shahjahanpur branch of Adityanath’s Hindu Yuva Vahini.

This is chilling given that in a state where Adityanath is Chief Minister, the woman who has accused Chinmayanand of sexual exploitation has been slapped with extortion charges. Also, one cannot shake a sense of foreboding given what happened to the Unnao rape survivor and her family.

Ravish Kumar wins the inaugural Gauri Lankesh Memorial Award for Journalism

September 22, 2019

Eminent journalist, author and news anchor Ravish Kumar has been awarded the inaugural Gauri Lankesh Memorial Award for Journalism. The ceremony is happening right now in Bangalore.

You can watch it live here

Richa Singh gets rape threats, police files FIR against her

September 22, 2019

In a shocking incident, firebrand SP leader and former president of Allahabad university students Union, Richa Singh received death and rape threats on calls and messages.

richa singh

Speaking to sabrangindia, Richa Singh said that unprintable and very serious threats including rape were made to her . While the police acted and arrested the accused , there seems to be political pressure now following which a cross FIR has also been lodged against Richa. Unfazed, she said ” if someone like me, in public life can get rape threats and end up with an FIR, imagine what an ordinary girl in UP has to go through “

The incident only highlights the circumstances under which women politicians have to function, especially if they are vocal against the present regime.

From Howdy to How could you?

September 21, 2019

As Prime Minister Modi goes about saying ‘howdy’ to Texans, members of a domestic action group for drugs, medication and medical equipment are asking some tough questions about the manner in which prices of certain medical devices have been fixed in a manner that benefits US device manufacturers.

Howdy modi

The All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN) has issued a statement on the subject saying, “It is evident that the government’s control of prices on medical devices has been the most prominent issue in negotiations around what is being referred to in the media as a “mini trade deal” between India and theUnited States (US). The US Government has applied extraordinary pressure on India against the pricecaps on coronary stents and knee implants. It is an indisputable fact that these price caps were greatlybeneficial to the public and reduced out of pocket expenditure of families undergoing procedures involving these devices.”

The statement alleges that US device manufacturers leaned on the Indian government using political channels.It gives the example of stents saying, “India’s price control regime operates under the Drug Prices Control Order (DPCO) issued under the Essential Commodities Act. Implemented by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing

Authority (NPPA), price controls on stents were imposed in after irrefutable evidence gathered by the NPPA showing gross abuse and overcharging in the pricing of theseessential medical devices.”

The statement adds, “At the behest of US medical device manufacturers, the issue of these price controls became a sticking point in US and India trade discussions and were among the reasons cited for the withdrawal of India’s GSP privileges by the US. At the time of the withdrawal of GSP benefits, the Indian government itself noted that the impact would be on a minor segment goods exported from India to the US. A letter by 44 US lawmakers has confirmed this and indeed pointed out that exports from India to the US have in fact increased. In light of this, it is extraordinary that the Government is proposing to endanger access to medical devices for crores of Indians.”

The entire statement may be read here:

Khalsa Aid India: A Journey of Serving the Mankind

September 21, 2019

Khalsa Aid International which is popularly known for its humanitarian relief charity and human saving efforts, is serving the common masses from 1999. Khalsa aid is a non-profit UK based organization that provides relief to the people who are facing any kind of distress. Not only this, Khalsa aid is also popularly known for providing relief assistance to the people that are stuck in war zones or any other tragic events like floods, famine and earthquakes. The organization was founded by Ravinder (Ravi) Singh, who was struck by the plight of the refugees in Kosovo in 1999. The founder Ravi saw the footage of the Kosovan refugees on the news and was inspired by one Sikh ideology in particular that was “Sarbat da Bhalla” meaning “well-being for all” recognizing the humanity in us all and reaching out to those in need, regardless of race, religion, borders. The charity group is not limited to the people of Sikhism but is serving the whole mankind irrespective of caste, creed, color and religion at no cost. In India, Khalsa aid office is located at Patiala Punjab.

On 26^th January 2001, a strong earthquake jolted the western side of Gujarat state resulting in killing of thousands of people. Khalsa aid team carried out heavy rescue operation and immediately provided 50,000 water purification tablets to the people. The group also worked day and night for the welfare of the people and provided individual tents to each family. In yet another effort to save the mankind, Khalsa aid helped over 50,000 people in Punjab during the Catastrophic flooding in August 2007. The people were facing immense economic hardship and loss of basic living conditions. In June 2013, a multi-day cloudburst caused devasting floods and landslides in the North Indian state of Uttarakhand. It became the country’s worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami. Khalsa Aid was one of the first relief organizations that reached the affected areas. The volunteers set up free food and water stalls for the local people. The effort was warmly welcomed by the travelling pilgrims who had travelled down the mountains on foot. In its second phase of providing relief, Khalsa Aid volunteers provided over 1,000 prepackaged relief items to people affected by the natural disaster. Each package contained many items like rice, sugar, lentils, salt, oil, spices, soap and toothpaste.

In Sep 2013, the Khalsa Aid also played a humanitarian role in the clashes between the Hindu and Muslim communities in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh. A total number of 62 people lost their lives in the clashes including 42 Muslims and 20 Hindus, while as 93 noted injured. The clash also resulted in displacement of more than 50,000 victims. In October 2013 Khalsa Aid, realizing the needs of the victims, distributed blankets and torch lights to the victims. Within two weeks, Khalsa aid spent around 4.5 Lacs rupees to relief the affected people. Again in 2014, the Khalsa aid supported the affected people in the communal riots happened in Saharanpur city of Uttar Pradesh. With the help of local businessmen, the volunteers gave hands in repairing the damaged homes of innocent victims.

In September 2014, the disastrous flood in Jammu and Kashmir resulted the loss of around 400 lives and around 200,000 people were rescued by Indian Armed forces form the various parts of the region. In such moments of shock and trauma, Khalsa Aid relief team dispatched the relief material which included clean drinking water, food and sanitary items, in the flooded areas. Also, the young volunteers tirelessly did selfless service to rescue people.

When earthquake stuck Nepal on April 25, 2015, around 9,000 lives were lost and more than 22,000 people suffered injuries. The quake destroyed more than 600,000 homes. Khalsa aid responded quickly and visited to the stricken areas in the aftermath of the earthquake with rescue teams and immediate aid deliveries. It is estimated that nearly 90,000 hot meals were provided to victims. Khalsa Aid volunteers from Delhi, Punjab, and Jammu were the first to reach Nepal when earthquake hit the region in 2015. The Khalsa aid volunteers from Punjab, Delhi and Jammu were even started repairing houses and schools as a part of the rehabilitation. Also, with French and Nepalese army, the Khalsa aid volunteers constructed temporary shelters for 250 families. The clean water tanks were also installed in affected areas.

In the year 2016, water crisis in Maharashtra reached its peak. After analyzing the situation, the Maharashtra government declared drought in around 29,000 villages. Nearly 1.37 crore farmers were affected by this natural calamity. The condition was severe in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions. The state also experienced high rate of suicide by the farmers. In such type of adverse circumstances, Khalsa Aid relief teams decided to lend a helping hand and coordinated the supply of 100,000 liters of clean drinking water to the people in prone areas on daily basis.

In August 2018, the state of Kerala was hit by the worst flood which resulted in making the common people homeless. Khalsa Aid takes the initiative to feed nearly 15000 victims by providing essential commodities. The team also distributed Packing and distribution of food parcels among the flood victims. In December 2018, post Ganpati Visarjan, a team of 30 Khalsa aid volunteers participated in a clean-up drive to clean the Versova Beach to spread awareness about keeping our environment clean and green. The organization also helped Sikhligar Sikhs in MP by providing them with new brick houses to live in. It was an initiative of providing education to all their kids. The volunteers of the organization organized traffic awareness among general public in Jammu city over a period of 5 days by displaying placards with Traffic Awareness slogans. The awareness was aimed to make people aware of the significance of following traffic rules.

In February 2019, post-Pulwama attack which left 49 CRPF personnel’s dead. The Kashmiri students studying in different parts of India were attacked and were asked to leave back to their homes. Khalsa aid organization in collaboration with JK Students organisation carried out a massive rescue operation by evacuated at least 300 Kashmiri students from different states of India and arranged buses for them so that they can travel safely to their respective homes. The organisation also arranged langar’s for the students in different parts of Punjab. Moreover, the Gurdwaras were opened by the organization so that the students could stay safely.

When extremely severe cyclonic storm ‘Fani’ hit Odisha in September 2019, it devastated 20,367 villages in nearly 14 coastal districts of Odisha. In addition to this, around 1.6 crore people were affected and nearly 1.88 lakh hectares of agricultural was damaged. At that severe circumstances, Khalsa aid was quick to extend its humanitarian service to cyclone affected residents. The volunteers worked round the clock and served the food to people in Puri. Every day they served drinking water and food to nearly 5,000 residents in Puri. As water shortage was the biggest challenge, Khalsa aid volunteers purchased around 50,000 liters of drinking water from Kolkata to supply it to the people.

Due to high rainfall in Punjab, in August 2019, large area left devasted by the severe flood. Approximately 300 villages of Jalandhar, Ropar and Ferozepur districts were severely affected in flood. The releasing of water from the Bhakra Dam and the swollen river Sutlej flooded villages in several areas. The flood caused extensive loss to farmers by damaging crops, especially paddy. The several houses were socked in low lying areas. In this devasting calamity, Khalsa Aid along with Indian army played the crucial role in bringing things to normalcy. The volunteers rescued not only the stranded people but also the animals in the flooded areas. The organization released an amount of £1,50,000 (₹1.3 crore) with immediate effect towards the relief work in flood affected areas in Punjab. Khalsa aid deployed its teams with the requisite equipment in Gurdaspur, Philloaur, Pathankot, Dinanagar and in Shahkot.

In August 2019, Khalsa Aid in collaboration with JK Students Association distributed stock, groceries and essential commodities among 300 Kashmiri students in different areas of Chandigarh. The students were facing economic crises due to the communication blockade in Kashmir.

In Bhai Laalo Middle School, Patiala, Currently Khalsa Aid is supporting 250 children of the underprivileged communities. The school was about to close in 2014 due to the funding crises, but the organization took the responsibility to run the school. The school is now providing the educational opportunities to students of economic weaker section. The organization is also funding Dashmesh Public School in Sangrur district of Punjab in which around 400 students from privileged section are receiving free education. The Focus Punjab that was launched in 2010, is one of the other long-term projects of Khalsa Aid for the 1984 conflict victim families. The project has provided assistance to 250 families in Punjab those are living under poverty due to economic, political or other reasons.

In 2017, the founder of Khalsa aid Ravi was honored with the Bhagat Singh Thind Community Empowerment Award at a National Gala Dinner in the USA.

Khalsa Aid is being funded by the common masses. The organization believes that general public can donate even a small amount as it is the most practical and useful method of donation. It helps the organization to plan projects in advance and be more efficient. For receiving donations, the organization has created a dedicated website where the donators can donate the money. Not only this, the organization is timely updating its works on Social Media platforms for the information of the general public.

Co-Written by Varinder Singh & Ishfaq Majid

Note: Khalsa Aid is an International organization. The organization serves the mankind across the world. But the current article focuses only on the works and activities carried by the organization in India.

Authors Bio:
Varinder Singh is a Ph.D. Scholar in School of Education, Central University of Gujarat. He is currently working in the area of Educational Psychology. His writings had earlier published in Mainstream Weekly. The author can be mailed at Varinder.singh@cug.ac.in
Ishfaq Majid is a Ph.D. Scholar in School of Education, Central University of Gujarat. He is currently working in the area of ICT in Education. His writings had earlier published in The Rising Kashmir, Economic and Political Weekly, South Asia Journal, London Institute of South Asia, Countercurrents and Mainstream Weekly. The author can be mailed at Ishfaq.majid@cug.ac.in

First Published in https://countercurrents.org/

‘No regulation’ in India on use of deadly chemical in surfactants, consumer products

September 21, 2019

A new study released by Toxics Link, ‘Dirty Trail: Detergent to Water Bodies’, has found alarming levels of the toxic chemical nonylphenol in detergents as well as in river water in India. The detergent samples were taken from the local markets of Delhi and water from six rivers i.e. Garh Ganga and Hindon in Uttar Pradesh, Krishnan in Andhra Pradesh, Tapti in Gujarat, Bandi in Rajasthan, Mahanadi in Odisha and Ambazari lake in Nagpur.

Pointing towards the danger nonylphenol, the stady states, it is “a xenobiotic and an endocrine disrupting chemical is used largely in the production of nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE)”, which is “extensively used as a surfactant and in other industrial applications as well as in day to day consumer products.”

Pointing out that NPE “generally breaks down to Nonylphenol in natural environmental conditions and enters into the ecosystem”, and also enters into “the food chain, where it bio-accumulates and can pose serious environmental and health risks”, the study says, “USA, the European Union and China have “acknowledged the menace of this chemical and have put restrictions on its use in various industrial processes and have shifted towards safer alternatives.”

While these countries phased out nonylphenol’s use from detergent in these countries long time ago, India has prohibited the use of nonylphenol in cosmetic products (2009), but there is “no regulation on its use in surfactants or other consumer products”, the study says, adding, “Further, there is no public information available on the possible impacts of the chemical and to minimize the risks associated with it.”

The study states, concerns have been raised about nonylphenol’s potential to cause carcinogenic effects on the human body. It says, “Since the chemical has been classified as an endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC) and is found to be having a number of reproductive and hormonal effects on the exposed humans, it has been detected in human breast milk, blood, and urine and is associated with reproductive and developmental effects in rodents.”

It states, “Studies have established the linkage of nonylphenol with cancer”, adding, “It can enhance the progression of cancer. A study has concluded that the presence of nonylphenol induces the cells and increases the chances of colon cancer.”Pointing out that the “World Health Organization in its risk assessment of nonylphenol.”

The study, conducted by the Toxics Link – an Indian environmental research and advocacy organization engaged in disseminating information to “help strengthen” the campaign against toxics pollution, provide cleaner alternatives and bring together groups and people affected by this problem — in association with the Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, has found existence of nonylphenol in all the samples of detergent, river and lake water.

“There has been no study conducted in India so far and it’s the first-of-its-kind report to bring the presence and toxicity impacts associated with nonylphenol into the public domain. There is an urgent need for developing stringent regulations to restrict the entry of NP into the environment and human body”, said Satish Sinha, associate director, Toxics Link.

Some key findings of the study are:

nonylphenol was found in very high quantity in all the detergent samples;
the concentration of nonylphenol was found in detergent samples ranging from 0.25 weight percent (wt%) to 11.92 wt%;
nonylphenol was detected in notably high quantity in all the river samples;
nonylphenol concentration was found to be 14.76 ppm in Garh Ganga;
the highest level of nonylphenol was found in the water sample from the Bandi river in Rajasthan i.e. 41.27 part per million (ppm); and
despite many corporations claiming that they don’t use nonylphenol, the study confirmed the presence of high quantity of the chemical in the products sold by their Indian subsidiaries.

Nonylphenol is known to be an endocrine disrupting chemical which is hazardous to the environment and human health besides also posing a threat to aquatic life and other fauna. The chemical has also been found to have a number of adverse reproductive and hormonal effects on human beings and can cause carcinogenic effects on the human body.

Considering its harmful effects, nonylphenol has been highly regulated by many countries globally. The United States, European Union and even China have phased out nonylphenol from detergent completely. Further Denmark has completely banned the use of nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs) in textile and leather industries and the EU has restricted the use of NPEs in products and product formulations to 0.01% in textile and other industries.

Moreover efforts are being made to restrict the use of the chemical in drinking water. Canada has set the standard of nonylphenol at 1.0 microgram per liter (µg/L) in freshwater while the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established water quality criteria for nonylphenol at 6.6 µg/L for acute exposures and 1.7 µg/L for chronic exposures.

“Despite Nonylphenol being a toxic chemical it was found in very high concentration in all the detergents samples that were tested. It is also a matter of grave concern that high concentration of Nonylphenol in river water samples can cause irreversible harm to aquatic organisms,” said Piyush Mohapatra, senior programme coordinator, Toxics Link.

The Bureau of Indian Statistics (BIS) has set the standard of phenolic compounds for drinking water (0.001 mg/L) and surface water (5.0 mg/L).However unlike other countries India does not have specific standards for nonylphenol in drinking water and surface water.

In the Toxics Link study the concentration of nonylphenol was found to be as much as eight times more than the prescribed BIS standard for phenolic compounds and over 100 times as compared to the US EPA safety standard for water quality criteria.

The study has proposed the following recommendations:

Banning the use of nonylphenol in all detergents;
Creating an inventory on the usage of nonylphenol in different sectors in the country;
Introducing standards on nonylphenol in drinking water and in food to protect human health and the environment; and
Initiating legal action against the companies for practicing double standards based on the polluter pay principle.

—

Click HERE for the study report

First published in https://www.counterview.net/

Why India Is Likely To Miss Its Nutrition Targets For 2022

September 21, 2019

New Delhi: At its current rate of progress, the National Nutrition Mission (NNM) cannot meet its 2022 targets to reduce malnutrition in India, a new study has reported. This is despite the reduction in malnutrition India achieved in the 27 years upto 2017.

Between 2017 and 2022, the NNM or Poshan Abhiyaan targeted an annual 2-percentage-point reduction in the prevalence of low birth weight and child underweight, a 25% fall in the prevalence of child stunting and a 3-percentage-point annual decline in the prevalence of anaemia among women and children under five years of age.

But if the NMM continues to progress at the current pace, relative to the 2022 targets, there will be an 8.9% excess prevalence in low birthweight, 9.6% in stunting, 4.8% in underweight, 11.7% in anemia among children, and 13.8% in anaemia among women, said the paper published on September 17, 2019, in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health.

Malnutrition was the predominant risk factor for death in children under five years of age in every Indian state in 2017, accounting for 68.2% of the total deaths in that age group, the researchers concluded.

Malnutrition was also the leading risk factor for health loss across all ages, responsible for 17.3% of the total disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) that denotes the years of potential life lost because of disability.

India is not on track to achieve its 2025 nutrition target–to achieve zero hunger–IndiaSpend had reported in December 2018.

The researchers working on the Lancet paper analysed the disease burden due to child and maternal malnutrition, and the trends in malnutrition indicators from 1990 to 2017 in every Indian state. This study was part of India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative Malnutrition jointly conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research, Public Health Foundation of India, and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, along with experts from over 100 Indian institutions.

The study found widespread malnutrition in India in 2017 in children under five years of age: Four in 10 were stunted (39.3%), three in 10 were underweight (32.7%) and three in five were anaemic (59.7%).

Also, there were signs of a new nutrition problem–one in every 10 children was overweight (11.5%).

The study highlighted the biggest factors that lead to higher malnutrition in children–low birth weight and poor exclusive breastfeeding. One in five children (21.4%) was born with low birth weight or under 2.5 kg, and only half of all children were exclusively breastfed (53.3%).

There is a need to set bold but achievable targets based on the analysis of these data, said the paper.

“This study reports that malnutrition has reduced in India, but continues to be the predominant underlying risk factor for child deaths, underscoring its importance in addressing child mortality,” said Lalit Dandona, director of the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative, in a statement. Low birthweight needs particular policy attention in India as it is the biggest contributor to child death among all malnutrition indications and its rate of decline is among the lowest, he added.

One in three of the world’s 156 million stunted children under five years of age lives in India. In 2016, it was estimated that undernourishment among India’s children under five years would cost $37.9 billion–Rs 2.7 lakh crore or about three times the Centre’s 2019-20 budget for education–through lost schooling and economic productivity.

Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam and Rajasthan fare worst
The states were divided in terms of the socio-demographic index (SDI)–low, middle and high–calculated on the basis of per capita income, education, and fertility rate in women younger than 25 years.

The malnutrition DALY rate was much higher in low SDI states than in the other groups. It varied from six to eight times across states in 2017, and was highest in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, and Rajasthan, as per the study.

The malnutrition rate in low SDI states was 1.8 times higher compared to the middle SDI group and 2-4 times higher than the high SDI group.

The DALYs rate due to malnutrition across all ages varied six times across states. In low SDI states, it was double the rate reported by middle SDI states and two to seven times higher than in high SDI states.

Disability-adjusted life-years rate due to malnutrition in children under five, 2017

Source: The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health

Malnutrition reduced only ‘modestly’
Of the 1.04 million children under five who died in 2017, 706,000 or 68.2% were due to malnutrition as we mentioned earlier. From 1990 to 2017, the mortality of children under five due to malnutrition had reduced “modestly”–from 70.4% to 68.2%–showed the study. Similarly DALYs in children under five due to malnutrition reduced only from 70.1% to 67.1%.

On almost all indicators, the rate of decline when projected for 2022 was not enough to meet the NNM targets.

Stunting prevalence reduced significantly in every state of India during 2010-17 but this decrease was less than the 8.6% annualised reduction needed to reach the NNM 2022 target. Similarly for wasting, underweight and anaemia, at the current rate of progress, the NNM targets are not likely to be met.

As we said earlier, there would be excess prevalence for low birthweight, stunting, underweight and anaemia in children relative to the 2022 targets.

Need ‘bold but achievable’ goals
The malnutrition indicator targets set by NNM for 2022 are “aspirational” and the rate of improvement needed to achieve them is much higher than the rate observed and might be “difficult” to reach in a short time, the study said. “This slow pace of improvement needs to be accelerated, so that future prevalence of malnutrition indicators are better than our projections based on trends so far,” the study said.

Correcting or resetting of targets has been done before at the global level. In 2005, the World Health Organization set its Global Nutrition Targets for six indicators to be achieved by 2025. But it became clear in a 2018 review that these targets were too high and “if the targets are too aspirational, they might be labelled as unrealistic, with the potential that investment and action are demotivated”. So the targets were re-set for 2030.

The paper suggested that NNM could set “bold but potentially achievable targets” for 2030. There could be national and subnational targets for reducing malnutrition based on the analysis of trends, the paper suggested.

India has the highest low birthweight prevalence
Low birthweight and short gestation or premature birth or was the largest contributor to the malnutrition disease burden, the paper found, responsible for 43.6% of DALYs.

South Asia, with India as its largest component, is estimated to have the highest prevalence of low birthweight in any region. It impacts not just the child but increases risk of chronic diseases later in life.

Low birthweight prevalence decreased significantly in 14 states of India during 2010-17, but its decline–1.14% annually–was much lower than the 11.8% annual decline needed for the NNM 2022 target.

Low birthweight depends on various factors: Mother’s nutrition, growth of the baby in the uterus, term at the time of birth and the space between the age of the mother and child.

Since women in India are underweight–one in every five–compared to even sub-Saharan Africa, it is suggested as a reason for low birthweight in India. Chronic undernutrition in mothers results in preterm and low birthweight babies, it is known.

In order to improve children’s health, India will have invest in mother’s nutrition, IndiaSpend had reported here and here.

(Yadavar is a special correspondent with IndiaSpend.)

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