In the second episode of #ChildhoodMatters, Biraj Swain, Newslaundry consulting editor and ICFJ Fellow, speaks to experts on how some states are outstripping others and the national average in child development. Now, districts are becoming the point of reference for health and child development programming as per the latest National Family Health Survey. Data disaggregation is important to track India’s performance vis-a-vis vulnerable groups like Adivasis, Dalits and other minority groups.

Panelists Dr AR Nanda, former Health Secretary and Chair of Coalition of Food and Nutrition Security, Dr Rajiv Tandon, public health expert, Technical Director PATH and Dr Purnima Menon, Senior Fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute, discuss India’s performance in the child development and nutrition front, both pre- and post-liberalisation, the various states’ performance and if a state should be a unit of measurement or should it be the district?

They discuss India’s performance vis-a-vis the progressive blocks of advanced economies in Scandinavia and Western Europe, the BRICS block and the immediate South Asian neighbours.

The panelists end with their hopes from the newly-launched Mission Malnutrition Free 2022 by the Goverment of India and why it is important to do mofussil reporting from the 113 high burden districts.

This is part of the series #ChildhoodMatters. In this series, issues concerning young children’s health, nutrition, education, care and its impact on economy and future will be discussed, reported in-depth from India and abroad. This series is supported by a Fellowship from ICFJ Washington DC.

Watch the full Facebook Live discussion here: