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Over the last sixty years, millions of rupees have undoubtedly been spent on child care in the country. Yet, India is the home of the most malnourished children in the world. The reasons for malnutrition among Indian children are not far to seek. It is a multilevel problem that involves adequate mother and child care in terms of easy access to health facilities, potable drinking water, environmental sanitation and of course, literacy.

Neither the setting up of the National Nutrition Council in 1994 nor the Integrated Child Development Scheme launched in 1975, has made any visible difference in the sordid situation. The most urgent areas of attention and immediate action are nutrition, health, and education of children, whose well- being reflects the health of the society. Since the causes of malnutrition of children are many, like exploding population, bias against the female child, weak and suffering mothers, the remedy calls for ‘care of the mother’ and ‘care by the mother’, besides effective population control. Ignorance of what food should be taken is another contributory factor that results in malnutrition among women and children. On paper, we have plenty of policies and programmes, but as far as performance is concerned, we have earned much notoriety. The implementation of various schemes to fight the menace of malnutrition and undernourishment of children requires planning, coordination, and close monitoring by high-powered bodies right down to the village level.

Unfortunately, the purpose of strengthening the capacities of the communities and of those who care has failed to deliver the goods because the schemes envisaged have had only marginal impact in the area where it is most wanting and woeful. The need of the hour is to translate the schemes into deeds and results, what we have tried to sell in the form of promises and populist pronouncements.