MUMBAI, 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, 4-4.5 million children benefit from anganwadis (state-run nursery schools where they are also given nutritious food) across the state. In March 2023, over 4.16 million children were measured for height and weight. Of these, 80,248 children (1.93%) had severe acute malnutrition (SAM). Since then, the number has decreased gradually, and by March 2026, of the over 4.43 million children weighed, the number of children with SAM fell to 13,321 (0.30%). Within the last 12 months, from March 2025 to March 2026, the number came down from 29,107 to 13,321. The number of children with Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) also declined during this period, from 212,203 (5.09%) to 93,280 (2.10%) now. The department deployed special monitoring teams in districts such as Nandurbar, Palghar and Amravati, where malnutrition has been historically high. Anup Kumar Yadav, secretary, women and child development department, said focused efforts through NURTURE and providing anganwadi workers with the necessary equipment and infrastructure, played a key role in reducing child malnutrition in the state. "Focused efforts with the help of NURTURE helped a lot, as the department and anganwadi workers started tracking children with SAM. These children were provided energy-dense nutritious food three times a day for three months. With the tracking system, children with SAM became healthy, and the number came down. Now we have decided to conduct a third-party audit of this data and programme," said Yadav. He said preliminary discussions have been held with the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS). Dr Abhay Shukla from Sehat, a non-profit working in the health and child nutrition sector, said a third-party audit is important as it will cross-check the government's data. "There are concerns about under-reporting of malnutrition, which makes a third-party audit necessary while also including the parents of the children surveyed. " Shukla further said that along with SAM, underweight children must be considered....