Child health in India: 14 out of 20 states cut spending on key programmes
The child-care funding cuts come at a time when the central government reduced its allocations to the ministry of women and child development over two years to 2016-17 Current Affairs News : Despite greater fiscal autonomy and higher tax revenues shared by the Centre with states, 14 of 20 states surveyed cut spending on a key nutrition programme–Supplementary Nutrition Programme or SNP–that bridges the gap between a child’s actual and ideal dietary needs, according to an analysis of national health-spending data. The SNP is the most popular service under the national child-support system–the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)–as it is used by 35.6% of urban and 53% rural residents, according to data from the National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4). As many as 55% and 61% of India’s lowest and second-lowest income classes, respectively, depend on the ICDS. The fall in funding could jeopardise not just child health...