Impact of New Welfarism approach of government on nutrition

Impact of New Welfarism approach of government on nutrition

Since independence, nutrition policy in India has been governed by the principle of setting target group-specific norms. But the approach began to be questioned after it failed to bring about any significant improvement in stunting rates. The New welfarism approach can better explain the reason for the overall rise in stunting rates.

Background of the welfarism approach

The 5^th round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) primarily focused on people belonging to vulnerable population groups. It mainly covers topics related to health, nutrition, family planning, child and maternal health, sanitation etc.

The principal objective of the survey is to measure status of various social indicators across the country thereby reflecting a broad picture of different aspects of living conditions including quality of life of households.

The findings of NFHS-5 show, how the government policy has consciously adopted the New Welfarism approach providing Tangibles services, instead of providing Intangibles social benefits i.e., improving nutrition level.

What is the New welfarism approach?

The focus of The New Welfarism approach is on redistributing income to the poor. It tries to increase the consumption capacity of disadvantaged population groups by enhancing their purchasing power.

The basic idea of the New Welfarism Approach is that state transfer of monetary income to its citizens will improve general well-being and self-esteem without changing their types of employment.

The new welfarism agenda does not give much priority to the supply of intangible public services. Such services, which cannot be traded in markets, such as basic health, primary education and safety nets are outside the frame of its reforms.

Instead, it focuses on tangible essential goods and services, normally provided by the private sector, such as bank accounts, cooking gas, toilets, electricity, housing, water and cash.

The new welfarism is based on the belief that there are certain things that all individuals, regardless of their income, must be able to access in order to lead a dignified life.

Key-findings that supports New Welfarism approach

The report on Women’s Economic Empowerment provides information on the proportion of women and men with bank accounts or access to any financial services, as well as their usage of these accounts. This includes information for both developing and developed economies.

With rapid economic growth over the last decade, India has made significant strides in many socio-economic indicators. The country has witnessed substantial expansion of electricity connections, improved sanitary conditions and access to clean cooking fuel.

The number of beneficiaries using various goods and services has generally increased in the recent years, with the exception of electricity which essentially remained constant.

A decline in child stunting has been a main goal of international development. Child stunting is highly correlated with deprivation and poverty, and is a reflection of a sub-standard maternal and child health program. Stunting has been found to be part of a vicious cycle for poor children: they do not perform as well at school, they are less flexible for higher-skilled employment and the extreme case of stunting often leads to disability or death.

Focuses on tangible goods more than Intangible goods

New Welfarism’s calculation is that there is rich electoral opportunity in providing tangible goods and services, which are relatively straightforward to deliver, measure and monitor.

Not only does the government believe that Providing tangible goods and services such as bank accounts, cooking gas, toilets, electricity, but housing will also make a critical difference to the lives of the poor. The governments' policy is also based on the assumption that providing these, will create an inclusive and equitable society.

There are lots of short time-span strategies that try to seek electoral support through long-term arrangements. One such strategy is the delivery of tangible goods and services. This can be done on the campaign trail and has several features as in it delivers tangible goods which can be evaluated and monitored easily. School notebooks, pens, bags are a few examples of these candidate goods. This strategy is executed by providing goods which are relatively easy to deliver and monitor.

This is due to the shift in government policies towards the New welfarism approach where the tangible goods and services are prioritized rather than intangible services such as nutrition, education, child stunting, etc.