Govt should next focus on well-being of the child from womb to first five years -Abhishek Anand , Vikas Dimble and Arvind Subramanian

-The Indian Express

India continues to be successful in preventing child deaths, but the health and nutrition of the surviving, living child has deteriorated, somewhat worryingly.

The recently released fifth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) provides new and reliable evidence to assess some dimensions of micro-development performance before COVID struck. The survey covers health, nutrition (of mother and child) and the overall quality of lives.

In a recent piece on these pages (‘New welfarism of India’s Right’, IE, December 22) we had argued that the data illustrated significant gains achieved by the government in respect to its distinctive approach to redistribution and inclusion that we called New Welfarism. This involved the subsidised public provision of essential goods and services, normally provided by the private sector. Access to banks accounts (especially for women), clean fuel for cooking, toilets and power had increased and at a significantly faster pace since 2015 than before.

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