Child malnutrition in India
Abstract: The problem is likely to be less severe than UN statistics indicate, given faulty yardsticksIf asked to name the state with the lowest incidence of child malnutrition in India, readers will overwhelmingly pick one of Kerala, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Punjab or West Bengal. But they will all be wrong by a wide margin: none of these states appears among even the top five performers.
According to the recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India,Arunachal Pradeshwalks away with the top prize. Based on 2010-11 data, Nagaland,Sikkim, Manipur and Mizoram, in that order, follow on the top five list. Maharashtra ranks a close sixth but the next four slots again go to northern and northeastern states —Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Jammu & Kashmir and Assam. Only then do Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab find a place on the list (caveat: I exclude Madhya Pradesh due to possible data inconstancies).