29 December 2020 -
The recently released partial data from the fifth National Family Health Survey (NFHS 5) has revealed two counts on which the country has regressed. Child nutrition has become worse in the last five years, wiping off our gains of the previous 20 years, and in five states, over 30 per cent of women aged 18-49 years have experienced spousal violence.
The percentage of stunted, wasted and underweight children has grown in the majority of states. Rates of stunting have risen in rich states such as Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Himachal Pradesh, all of which had lowered their rates of stunting in the previous two decades. In case of spousal violence, Karnataka is the most concerning case; spousal violence in the state has doubled to 44.4 per cent, up from 20.9 per cent in NFHS 4 (2015-16). The other states where spousal violence continues to hover above 30 per cent are Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Bihar and Mizoram.