The report of the State Coordination Committee meeting of NACDOR led National Campaign on Nutrition for Dignity shows the current challenges in nutrition of Dalit and Adivasis as felt by activists in the state of Gujarat.

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Report on
Gujarat State Coordination Committee Meeting, National Campaign on Nutrition for
Dignity
Organised by National Confederation of Dalit Organisation with the support of Global
Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Training Hall , Saint Xavier’s College Campus. Navrangpura, Ahmadabad, Gujarat
Time :11 am to 3.00 pm
Date: 6th
February, 2015
National Confederation of Dalit Organizations (NACDOR) is the national platform of socially
excluded and most vulnerable communities in India. The membership organizations,
numbering more than 2000, are spread over in 23 states in India. Following its mandate
addressing community’s development needs, NACDOR, with support from Global Alliance for
Improved Nutrition (GAIN), initiated its long term intervention on malnutrition of socially
excluded communities. In its third National Conference in December 2012, NACDOR’s
General Body adopted a Declaration on the Food and Nutrition Security of Scheduled Castes,
Scheduled Tribes and Other Vulnerable Groups focusing at elimination of mal-nutrition
through a proactive engagement of its membership, community and other stakeholders.
NACDOR is also involved in Right to Food Campaign in India. Following up the Declaration on
Food and Nutrition Security of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Vulnerable
Groups, NACDOR initiated National Campaign on Nutrition for Dignity (NCND) on 5th
– 6th
December 2013. The campaign has begun in 10 states in India as part of the NACDOR
programme for mainstreaming the agenda of Nutrition Security among . NationalCampaign
on Nutrition for Dignity (NCND) is motivating and capacitating the grass root level
community leadership of socially excluded Dalits and Adivasis on nutritional security, thus
enabling them to change their behavior, demand and access their entitlements and make
duty bearers accountable while seeking the application of the convergence model for the
realization of the vision of national nutrition policy and collecting learnings in order to
define a vision of inclusive nutrition security for the states in particular and for the nation
in general.
Crisis of malnutrition in Gujarat with emphasis on SC and ST
Out of the total population of 60,439,692 , SC population in Gujarat is 40,74,447 and ST
populations is 8917174 . Nutritional outcome for children in the age group 6-59 months are
depressing for SC and SC children. As per NFHS 2005-6, Stunting for SC children was 54.6
per cent, for ST , it was 60.9 percent in comparison to 39 per cent below SD 2 for others.
Wasting for SC was 20.8 and for ST, it was 28.3 while for other the percentage was 16.4.
45.9 % SC children and 64.5 ST children were underweight in comparison to 35.3 among
others. With reference to prevalence of any anemian, 68.5 per cent children were anaemic,
while 82.9 per cent children from ST were anaemic in comparison to 63.5 per children
being anaemic among others. IMR for SC children was 65.4 while for ST this was 86 in
comparison to 47.3. Under 5 mortality for SC children was 86.6 while for ST children this
was 115.8 in comparison to 55.7 among others.
According to the National Food Survey 2007, there was a decrease in the number of children
with malnutrition in India by one per cent compared to the previous survey. However,

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Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh were the only two states which showed an increase in the
numbers.
As per the survey earlier 47% of children in the country were malnourished. The figure fell
to 45.9 in 2007 for India. According to the 2007 survey, the number in Gujarat grew to 46
per cent as against 45 per cent in the previous years, similarly in MP the number increased
to 60 from 54.
According to a report shared in the Right to Food Convention held in 2014, Gujarat provided
subsidized grain to only 7.35 lakh families under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana and to 24.33
lakh below poverty line (BPL) families. Officially the state lists an additional 71 lakh families
as above poverty line but does not provide them any subsidized grains.
Gujarat had decided to give 35 kg of wheat and rice to the families but there were two
different rates leading to confusion. According to Right to Food Campaign "The Gujarat
government has not carried out a proper census to find out how many families can be
covered under the food security bill. The three-day convention recommended that the
government should set up a committee which will in a short span of time come up with
criteria for implementing the act which entitles the poor for cheap food grains. The
campaign demanded that action should be taken within 30 days of the receipt of the
application and also set up an independent, transparent and effective grievance redressal
system in the state.
However, there has been change since the 2007 survey carried out by Right to Food
Campaign. It is reported that Gujarat improved most in malnutrition. As on 31 March 2007,
the figure for malnourished children in Gujarat was the highest in the country - at 70.69
percent, well above the national average of 50.1 percent. But by 2011, it is reported that
Gujarat is the most improved state with malnourishment down to 38.77 percent - the
sharpest improvement in India and now Gujarat is now comfortably above the national
average on malnourishment at 41.16 percent.
In Gujarat, there are successes achieved but the indicators referring to the attainment of
goal shows that the state would not be achieving the millennium development goals.
According to survey conducted in 2009-10 , In state of Gujarat 47,919 Anganwadi Centres
(AWCs) are operational where as 48,617 AWCs were sanctioned as on 31st March, 2010.
16,244 AWCs are operational in SC/STs habitations and 4051 AWCs are operational in urban
areas out of total operational AWCs as on 31.3.2010i. . In Gujarat, the norms followed for
tribal hamlets/ villages were the same as largely followed for the rural and urban
populations- with one Anganwadi for every 1000 population. There is no separate
enumeration of ST/SC habitations. To provide SNP, the state government is procuring
„Balbhog‟ (Extruded Fortified Blended Food) to the children under the age group of 6 months
to 3 years. ‘Balbhog’ is a pre-cooked, cereal-based supplementary food in powder form
fortified with 9 essential micronutrients. Its formulation was developed by GAIN and WFP.
The project worked with the private sector which produced, packaged and transported the
food to the final distribution point (Anganwadi Centre). Private manufacturers were
selected through an e-tendering processii. Hot cooked is provided to children upto age 6 at
AWC.
The supply of SNP in regular only in 32.25% AWC‟s, with Panchmaahls and kutch reporting
highest irregularity in the provision of SNP at AWC‟s. Average number of days is 21 when
Anganwadis centre was open in a month according to attendance register. Also during the

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discussions with community they admit that Anganwadis are open for 22 days in a month. In
the last month, in district Kutch Anganwadis was open for 24 days, in Panchmahal 26 days,
Tapi 21 days and in Rajkot Anganwadi center was open for 19 days. The coverage of children
under Supplementary Nutritious Program is not satisfactory.
As per the survey, access is an issue for Dalits and Adivasis. Access to Anganwadi services:
The location and the social discriminatory practices can create problems of access to
services. In nearly half the Anganwadis (29 of 62), the Anganwadi worker belonged to SC/ST
community. However, the location of the Anganwadi did create problems of access to the
marginalized sections. The Hon‟ble Supreme court‟s order explicitly states that priority be
given to cover all SC and ST hamlets in the opening of new Anganwadi. Currently, there is
no mapping available at the state level for the settlements of SC/SC populations within the
village. More often than not, the Anganwadi building‟s were in the village, away from the
Dalit bastis. In the tribal villages too, the Anganwadis were not distributed in all the
hamlets within the village.In Gujarat, most of the Anganwadi‟s were housed in government
buildings. The location of the Anganwadi‟s earmarked for SC/ST were not always housed in
the settlements/ hamlets where the majority of the SC/ST populations were settled. The
Anna Suraksha Adhikar Abhiyan received complaints from a village Kundaliya in Vav Block,
Banaskantha showing the difference in amenities in the Anganwadis available for the
children from dalit communities.
Gujarat State Campaign Coordination Meeting:
Gujarat State Coordination Committee, NationalCampaign on Nutrition for Dignity meeting
was orgnised with for delivery of the following on 6th
February 2015 at HRDC centre ,Saint
Xaviers College Campus , Navrangpura ,Ahmadabad, Gujarat with 40 participants
representing grass root Dalit led organizations, networks and activists , budget experts..
Nutrition educators from Saint Xavier’s College could not reach after confirming orally. The
meeting was organized toward the realization of the following:
 Strengthening of Dalit, Adivasi and vulnerable communities leadership in the state to
raise collective voice on Nutrition security with Dignity and other entitlements / rights
 Capacity Building of the grass root community leaders, activists, representatives of
Panchayati Raj Institutions, and Development & Service Providers to address the problem
of malnutrition in Gujarat
 Facilitation of set of targeted actions directed at specific agenda of Nutrition Security
for Dalits and Adivasis
 State level learning and action forums for consulting on the strategic advocacy targets
and methodology
 Lobbying with the state government ministries, State Planning Commission and
institutions affecting the agenda of nutrition security.

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With 40 participants from across
Gujarat constituting Grassroot
organisations, Networks and
movements, Nutrition activists,
the meeting started with the
welcome by Mr. Jayanti
Kamadia of Gujrat based
network called Gujarat Dalit
Sangathan, an affiliate of
National Confederation of Dalit
Organisation. He explained
Malnutrition and Hunger was
part of the life of Dalits and
Adivasis in Gujarat and how
many of deaths that are
considered normal are caused
by malnutrition and hunger
prevalent among Dalits.Dr. M.Mukhtar Alam, Senior Advocacy Coordinator explained about
NACDOR , its history , vision and mission and how the organisation now is the only
representative organisation of Dalits and Adivasis capturing the critical concerned of Dalits
and Adivasis in totality. In this regard, he shared about the recent Convention of Dalit and
Adivasi rights organised in New Delhi for highlighting the critical demands of Dalits, Adivasis,
Dalit Muslims and Christians. Explaining the NACDOR initiated National Campaign on
Nutrition, he highlighted how the meeting was part of the processes for discussing the
strategies and taking forward the campaign in the state in order to secure the vision of
Malnutrition and Hunger Free Inclusive Gujarat.
Following issues emerged in the discussions on the functioning of ICDS in the state of
Gujarat:
 Absence of services at the Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre
 Lack of awareness on the services provided at NHF
 Irregular distribution of supplementary nutrition
 low quality of food given for supplementary nutrition
 prevalence of manifestation of case based attitudes
 instances of SC Karyakarta not being accepted by other castes
 Government accepting the prevalence of malnutrition but lack of actions on
monitoring
 Anganwadi karyakartas being overburdened by work
 Lack of social audits for ICDS provisioned in the scheme
 Lack of awareness on the services
 Lack of training of the Anganwadi karyakartas
 Recordkeeping is consuming much time of Anganwadi karyakartas
 Perceptions growing for centres being more used by Dalits and Poor
Issues related to PDS
 PDS dealers not receiving enough commission
 entries being made without delivery
 computerised entry being considered by some dealers as conducive to pilferage
 All are not receiving the supplies
 PDS quality of grains are not of good quality
Issues related to MDM
 Children in tribal areas not being given utensils in the school

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 Food is not being given in adequate quantity, quality with access to all
 caste based attitudes responsible for malfunctioning of ICDS in Gujarat in contrast
to Kerala where children from all classes
Decisions:
 Steering Committee formed from representatives from across the districts and
regions of Gujarat
 Programme for Yatras in 200 villages agreed for awareness programmes
 State Convention to be an occasion to bring an interface with the government and
scaling up campaign in the state
 All participants to firm up knowledge on the schemes and provisions of social audits
 social audits to be conducted but by all organisations present in the meeting gaining
knowledge on the functioning of the ICDS ,PDS and MDM in order to present the same
in the national convention
Deliberations:
Mr.Jayanti Kamadia welecomed all to the meeting and shared on the crisis of malnutrition
in the state of Gujarat. Referring to the budget, he said only 20 per cent of the SC
component is being used. Dr. M.Mukhtar Alam explained about the history of NACDRO,
NCND, World Dignity Day organised by NACDOR, education campaign, Dalit and Adivasi rights
convention, social audit, community mobilisation at large scale through Yatra and concrete
work through social audit of food and nutrition related schemes. He explained about the
stretegies in NCND and how social audit findings generated at the ground level were being
converted into state and national level advocacy.
Sharing on the views on
nutrition, Ms. Pushpa Solanki
shared about her visit to seven
Anganwadies in Dashkor block
of Ahmadabad where mission
Mangalam programmes were
being run for eliminating
malnutrition. She informed
that people are not ready to
take complaints outside the
village since Anganwadi
Karyakartas are related to some
and all consider it important to
protect the honor of the
village. She shared her view
that month long campaign is
conducted but children are not
receiving adequately . She said
that quantity was not being
examined.
Ms. Pakeeza Ben pointed out that children are not there in the adequate number . There
are only 10-15 children at the centre. Ms. Smita shared that only 10 out of 25 were found
to be receiving supplementary nutrition packets and therefore condition was precarious.
There are deductions in the quantity. Only one laddoo is being given for three days. She
Figure 1 0 participants in the Gujarat State Coordination Committee, HRDC
Centre ,Saint Xaviers College ,Ahmadabad

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informed about the social audit which happened and 75 persons were suspended. She called
for social audit of PDS as well.
Mr. Deepak Solanki informed about the condition of malnutrition and called for
regularisation of social audits for ensuring deliveries under ICDS, PDS and MDM.
Mr. Goa Rathaur of Adivasi Adhikar Abhiyan spoke about the tribal region where there are
villages spread over an area of 10 kilometre and a household lives at a distance of one
kilometre. In the 65 villages in Saberkantha district where he is working, he said that
children have not seen toys in the ICDS centres. Children are not receiving breakfast and
lunch. Only 10 gram Poha is given. Traditionally children were seen with Maize rotis but now
even maize is not available. In the schools, children are not being given plates . They are
taking plastic Katoras for receiving mid day meals. He called for finding the gaps in the
deliveries and for this he called
for sustained action. Speaking
on the Dugdh Sanjeevani Yojna
where milk is not given in
proper quantity. Speaking on
PDS, he said , the shop opens for
a day only and if people reach
then the same is given or else
people are left. Speaking on the
functioning of Nutrition
Rehabilitation Cente, he said
Nutrition Rehabilitation centre
is not functioning as per the
provisions. Nurses are not there
always attending to the cases.
Mr.Jayanti Makadia referring to
the deaths of children in the
households of Dalits and
Adivasies said these were due to malnutrition. He said that ruling class is engaging in sin
through not attending to issues of malnutrition with all the force which is required. He
called on the Dalit and Adivasi leader to wake up for realising the rights.
Mr.Ramesh of BalAdhikar Group wondered on the existence of 45% malnutrition in the state.
He referred to the low quality of wheat at the Jyotibai Phule Anganwadies . Child Protection
Officer and Welfare Officers were not aware of their duties. On the promise of construction
of Nand Ghar, he said 1000 Nand Ghar that were promised have not yet been constructed.
On the work of Supervisors, he said, there are 6-7 blocks which are covered by one
supervisor. This becomes burdensome.
Mr.Vasudeb Charupa of NationalCentre for Dalit Human Rights on discussing the suggestions
called for categorizing all the suggestions as per the need of action at various levels. There
were discussions of how the campaign would be placed vis a vis Gujarat Dalit Sangathan. It
was agreed that State Coordination Committee for NACDOR led NCND would be a strategy
for realizing the nutrition and food security goals for Dalits, Adivisis,muslims and vulnerable
communities while Gujarat Dalit Sangathan would be attending to all the issues
comprehensively:
Suggestions for advocacy were received with reference to the following:
Figure 2Participants in the State Coordination Committe Meeting, Gujarat

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 Training of the ICDS workers should be done in order to make them aware of delivery
of all services
 Absenteeism of ICDS workers from Anganwadis should be rapidly addressed.
Recordkeeping and work for children should be balanced. Recordkeeping work should
be done in the hours allotted for the same.
 Awareness programme on nutrition needs to be conducted
 NRC center functioning should be as per the provision and therefore there is a need
to advocate on best functioning of Nutrition Rehabilitation Centre
 Assessing the differences in the functioning of the food and nutrition security related
programmes should be done through social audits
 MDM scheme should be implemented granting dignity through elimination of the
caste based attitude which hamper the delivery.
 Land rights for Dalits and Adivasies should be secured for creating enabling conditions
for malnutrition prone households.
 PDS deliveries should be regular in tribal areas
 Good quality grains should be supplied to both school and Anganwadis.
 Construction of Nand Ghar should be completed soon.
 Supplementary nutrition should be regular as per the stipulated quality
 Menu for breakfast and lunch for children at Anganwadies should be followed up.
 PDS supplies should not be pilfered
 Commission for PDS suppliers should increase in order to meet costs of PDS dealers.
 Active state campaign is needed for eliminating discrimination on the basis of caste.
Out of 40 participants, Mr.Jayanti Makadia facilitated the process for nomination of
representatives to Gujarat State Coordination Committee Meeting. Gujarat State
Coordination Committee was formed with the following members:
1. Mr. Jayanti Makadia
2. Ms.Smita Ben
3. Mr.Praveen Khavdee, SDS
4. Mr.Sova Rathod
5. Mr.Shankar Vankar, Lokseva
6. Mr.Dalpat, BDS
7. Ms.Pakeeza Ben
8. Ms.Sharmila
9. Mr.Jigar Solanki
10. Mr.Ramesh Vaghela, Jan Seva
11. Mr.Nalin Bhai
12. Ms.Meera Parwar
13. Mr. Deven Vasiq
14. Ms.Roopa Bhai
15. Ms.Ami Ben
16. Ms. Kanchan Ben
17. Mr.Vasu Bhai
18. Jayanti Makwane
19. Nagji Chonvah
Conclusion:
Gujarat State Coordination Committee of National Confederation of Dalit Organisations led
National Campaign on Nutrition for Dignity generated a set of recommendations for

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grassroot action for eliminating deficits in the delivery of services for SC and ST. Situation
of delivery in the tribal areas is quite precarious. There is a need to have more support for
programmes for bridging gaps in the porvisions and deliveries. Gujarat State Coordination
Committee has been formed for taking forward the campaign and developing partnerships
in this regard with government, internationalagencies and all the networks that are active.