Unchanged budget makes malnutrition-free Gujarat still a distant dream

Malnutrition among children continues to be a major issue in Gujarat. Despite spending huge amounts of money over the years, more than two lakh children are still suffering from malnutrition. While the government promotes the idea of a “malnutrition-free Gujarat”, experts and workers say that the ground reality is very different.

One of the main concerns is the budget for nutritious food, which has not been raised since 2018. Due to rising inflation, the prices of essential food items like jaggery, pulses, and gram have increased. However, the government rates for Anganwadi workers remain unchanged. For instance, the market price of jaggery is between ₹45 and ₹55 per kg, but workers are paid only ₹40 per kg. This has forced Anganwadi workers to spend the additional amount from their own pockets to provide food to children.

Children are provided nutritious food such as sukhdi, shiro, and muthiya at the Anganwadi centres. But the inadequate funding has made it difficult to maintain the quality and quantity of food. Workers say that with such limited resources, it is not possible to fully meet the nutritional needs of children.

Another issue raised is about government spending priorities. Around ₹24 crore has been spent on digital monitoring systems to track the nutrition status of children. While monitoring is important, critics argue that more focus should be given to improving the quality of food instead of spending heavily on technology.

Experts believe that unless the government increases the budget for nutritious food and supports Anganwadi workers, the situation is unlikely to improve. The gap between policy and ground reality continues to raise serious questions about the state’s efforts to make Gujarat malnutrition-free.