Nutrition – Rajasthan

Nutrition in Rajasthan

The nutritional status of children and women in Rajasthan has been poor. Despite efforts to tackle malnutrition in Rajasthan, 40.9 percent children under five years are underweight and 44.4 percent are anaemic, according to the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (2019).

Meanwhile, the government has implemented a range of interventions to tackle this problem. There are of two types. Nutrition-specific interventions that address immediate determinants (such as adequate food and nutrition intake, care-giving practices, low burden of infectious diseases) and nutrition-sensitive interventions that address underlying interventions (such as food security, access to health, hygiene etc.)

One of the biggest nutrition schemes run by the Government of India is the Integrated Child Development Services  (ICDS) programme, which is implemented by Rajasthan’s Department of Women and Child Development (WCD). But implementation of nutrition interventions is not limited to the WCD Department alone.  Education and health are some of the other departments that work towards multi-sectoral efforts to implement nutrition programmes in Rajasthan.

Mapping Governance: Nutrition in Rajasthan

The idea behind Mapping Governance is to use the Accountability Initiative’s research and on-ground experience over the years to help practitioners in civil society spaces better understand and navigate the government systems they work with.

Civil-society organisations play a pivotal role in facilitating access of communities to public services like health, nutrition, and education and improving developmental outcomes. Thus, it becomes imperative for them not only to be aware of the local government structures, but more specifically understand how large-scale social sector programmes are administered and financed, and where spaces for them to collaborate with the government exist. 

In this context,  Mapping Governance takes you through the complex administrative machinery that delivers key nutrition interventions in the state of Rajasthan. 

This entire course is made up of 5 Maps. Each Map tells you the story of a different aspect of governance for the delivery of nutrition programmes. At the end of this bundle of Maps, you will be able to:

• • [Theme 1] Identify the key functionaries involved in the delivery of the nutrition programmes in Rajasthan and what each of their roles and responsibilities are
    
  • [Theme 2] Understand the extent to which nutrition services in Rajasthan have been decentralised to local governments
    
  • [Theme 3] Recognise convergence efforts between different departments towards better nutrition outcomes and understand the complexities that such an exercise presents
    
  • [Theme 4] Understand how the nutrition programme in Rajasthan is financed. This is currently unavailable.
    
  • [Theme 5] Acknowledge the critical role played by civil society and citizen groups towards improving the status of nutrition in Rajasthan