By Dr N V Madhuri, Dr Vanishree Joseph Restrictive social and economic norms, fear of infection, isolated family life, school closures, lack of support networks, loss of loved ones, difficulty of combining working from home with full-time childcare, financial challenges, increased exposure to domestic violence, drug use and mental illness in family members due to […]
By Dr N V Madhuri, Dr Vanishree Joseph
Restrictive social and economic norms, fear of infection, isolated family life, school closures, lack of support networks, loss of loved ones, difficulty of combining working from home with full-time childcare, financial challenges, increased exposure to domestic violence, drug use and mental illness in family members due to Covid can result in toxic stress for children.
Development of the fullest potential of children relies on having access to good quality health, nutrition, education and protection services. In the different stages of child development, Early Childhood Development (ECD) (0-8 years) holds an important place in the brain and physical development of a child. When their access to services is denied, children miss out on an opportunity for their fullest development.
Facility-based Care
As per UNICEF, one-third of the window of the opportunity for ECD is lost due to Covid. While analysing the data of UNICEF from 2005 to 2015, it shows that there is a reduction in young children at risk of poor development from 72% to 45%. But the Covid has reversed the situation. This is mainly because of the closure of services, particularly Anganwadi Service Centres. There has been a steep decline in facility-based care such as childbirth services, immunisations, treatment of children with severe malnutrition and healthcare for sick children, particularly in countries in South Asia including India.
Reduced access to food-based and other social protection services has affected the nutrition level of children. India already faces the problem of stunted and wasted growth of children, which is caused by chronic undernourishment. Lancet has estimated that there will be a 14.3% increase in moderate or severe wasting among children under five years due to the present pandemic in low to middle-income countries. Widespread disruption of reduced access to health and food systems can increase child wasting and may account for 18 -23% additional deaths.
Loss of income in the family, reduction in food production and increasing out of pocket expenditure on health during this period have intensified the negative impact. Frontline workers of health services were also affected and later their services were diverted to vaccination drive, which is also quite important but at the cost of the development services rendered to young children. Prioritisation of health and nutrition services of children did not continue and was disrupted. Pre-school closures have led to an increase in out of pre-school children. Online education has led to digital divide, learning inequality and increased screen time.
Missing Care
Children are missing early child care and education. Signs of psychological distress are also on the increase among them. Adding to this despair, according to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), 30,000 children have become orphans or have lost one parent or been abandoned. Further, the shrinking economy has also created an impact on the spending pattern on the social sector, which will definitely have a multi-year impact on the lives of children.
As per the NCDC Dashboard of government of India, the Covid infection is increasing among children in each wave from 4% to over 11%. At the onset of the third wave, if it infects children more, then its impact on children will take more years to put child development back on track. As per the Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on the Ministry of Women and Child Development demand for grants 2021, there is a cut in the actual allocation of Budget Estimate (2020-21) in the schemes like Anganwadi services, POSHAN Abhiyan, Scheme for Adolescent Girls, National Creche Scheme and PMMVY (Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana). There is also a decline in the number of beneficiaries of the supplementary nutrition programme of MWCD from 10.2 crore in 2016 to 8.6 crore in 2020.
Studies have projected that the SDG target of reducing malnutrition among children will be achieved only if the POSHAN Abhiyan scheme continues. Even if the spread of Covid is contained without POSHAN Abhiyan, achieving the target by 2030 will not be possible.
In spite of these shortfalls, the Covid relief budgetary measures have provided some opportunities as well. The cooking cost of Midday Meal (MDM) (per day, per child) has been increased from Rs 4.48 to Rs. 4.97 for primary children, and from Rs 6.71 to Rs 7.45 for upper primary children. Ad hoc grant of Rs 2,567 crore was also released to States for MDM. Under the PMGKY (Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana) package, Rs 1.70 lakh crore was distributed, which included free supply of foodgrains (5 kg of wheat/rice and 1 kg of pulses), and free rations for 8 crore migrant workers were supplied under Atmanirbhar Bharat. The Central government has also directed the State governments to distribute food and nutrition items once in 15 days at the doorstep of Anganwadi beneficiaries, including children, and pregnant and lactating women.
Policy Action
The State governments have also made attempts to increase food supplies through community kitchens in Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, etc, and supply of unconditional ration in Madhya Pradesh to name a few. Initiatives to continue early childhood care and education (ECCE) was also carried out in States like Karnataka by introducing a self-learning app; digitalisation of all school textbooks and provision of laptops and projectors in Kerala; and SMILE-20000 WhatsApp group in Rajasthan.
However, certain other measures are also required for holistic child development, including for children from different strata of society. For example, investment in resources for collecting, monitoring and publishing disaggregated beneficiary data by social identity will be quite useful. This will be applied for all major nutrition, health and education schemes for children to understand the differential impact of Covid-19 to take appropriate policy action.
Specific interventions are necessary for identification of vulnerable families and pre-school children and mainstreaming them is the need of the juncture. Allocation of resources for additional supplementary nutrition for children from vulnerable communities should also find a place in the budgetary allocation. While birth dose vaccinations were being provided across India, immunisation services were disrupted. Preparation for the safe reopening of Anganwadi centres, investment in basic infrastructure and safety measures in those Anganwadi centres are a must.
A study in 2020 found that 28% of operational Anganwadis did not have drinking water facilities, while 39% of them did not have toilet facilities. The planning process which takes place at the Gram Panchayat level in rural areas can address these issues without any further delay. More allocation of money is needed to set up new Anganwadis in urban areas as well. Investing in training and support to teachers and Anganwadi workers will contribute to child development. These steps should be taken upfront keeping the plight of children in mind and to protect their rights.
(Dr N V Madhuri is Associate Professor, and Dr Vanishree Joseph is Assistant Professor, Centre for Gender Studies and Development, National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Hyderabad)