Bhopal, July 19 -- Bhagat Singh, who turned 2 in May, is unlikely to make a mark on this world-unlike his popular namesake, the revolutionary hero from pre-independent India. The child cannot walk because his legs are too thin, unable to bear even the weight of his puny body. He usually drags himself from one spot to another.

But Bhagat Singh is not afflicted with a disease; in technical terms, he is a SAM child. SAM is the acronym for severe acute malnutrition, also known as severe wasting, which is a lethal form of undernourishment.

A boy his age should ideally weigh more than 12 kg. But Bhagat Singh weighs nearly half of that standard-6.6 kg-according to records kept at the local anganwadi, the state-run childcare centre in Muktapur ...