India is at once among the fastest growing global economies

India is at once among the fastest growing global economies and home to the largest number of malnourished children in world. There are regions where malnutrition is not the exception but the norm. And across the country, malnutrition is the cause of death for roughly half the 1.3 million children who die before their fifth birthday each year.

Even those children who survive suffer permanently from the damage that has already been done to their bodies and minds from not getting enough of the right foods and nutrients. Around 44 million children under 5 are stunted. That makes it harder for them to learn in school and subsequently earn a living as adults. Their lifetime earnings potential is almost a quarter less than of their healthy peers.

With refence to the above passage, which of the following is/are the most rational and practical implication/implications?

1. India’s Public Distribution System should be monitored by the Union Government.
2. Girls should be encouraged to delay marriage and first pregnancy.
3. Mothers should be encouraged to breastfeed their children immediately after birth.
4. The supply of safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities to all should be ensured.
5. Authorities should ensure the vaccination should ensure the vaccination as prescribed.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

1. 1, 2, 3 and 4
2. 2, 3, 4 and 5
3. 1 only
4. 3 and 5 only

Answer: B

Explanation

Statement 1 is not correct as mere monitoring the PDS system will not result in better child nutrition.

Statement 2 is correct as it is related to mother’s health and child’s health both. Consider a girl getting married in the age of 18 and giving birth to her first child at the age of 19 and in second case a girl getting married in the age of 22/23 and giving birth to first child at the age of 23/24. In second case the child will have better chances to have better nourishment in prenatal and neo natal period.

Statement 3 is correct as mother contains immunoglobulins which are a certain kind of proteins that allows a mother to pass immunity to her baby. It helps in providing much needed nutrition to the child and also improves the survival rate.

Statement 4 is correct. According to UNICEF, less than 50 per cent of the population in India has access to safely managed drinking water. Also, inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in India’s health facilities, contributes to the high neonatal mortality rate. So, supply of safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities to all should be ensured to check the spread of diseases and check malnutrition in children.

Statement 5 is correct. Passage also implies children poor health due to lack of proper nutrition and associated diseases so vaccination drives should be ensured by authorities for better survival rate of the children.

• Exam Year: 2020