India, April 8 -- The Maharashtra government has recorded a significant decline in child malnutrition, with the incidence of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) falling from 80,248 to 13,321 in the last three years. The government attributes this to a digital tracking programme called 'NURTURE', developed by the women and child development department, and the provision of special nutritional food, which ensured a focused effort to rein in the numbers.

Now, the government will conduct a third-party survey of this data to introduce further accountability into the system.

According to data with the women and child development department, 400,000 to 450,000 children benefit from anganwadis (state-run nursery schools where they are also given nu...