Access to Nutrition in Odisha

Abstract

Celebrated as a nutrition champion, Odisha state in India has achieved significant improvements in nutrition of its women and children. The overall progress, however, masks familiar inequities, evidenced in significantly higher levels of stunting, wasting and underweight in children. The article examines access, a key underlying determinant of undernutrition, to two nutrition government schemes of Odisha—the Supplementary Nutrition Programme and Mamata—for the most vulnerable groups in the state’s Angul district. The study identifies limited awareness and lack of proactive disclosure of scheme information, excessive distance from centres that provide the schemes, caste-based power dynamics and weak monitoring institutions as key factors restricting access of specific social groups to these two schemes. The article examines the factors constraining access and considers potential solutions to overcome these bottlenecks in order to provide more effective protection mechanisms.