There are some of the early signs that we are seeing due to COVID-19 pandemic there might be a delay in meeting the nutritional targets that India has set for itself. The first connect is that since the schools are shut across the country, there are chances that many girls will not come back to schools, which also means that they will be married off early and therefore get into the whole process of frequent and early pregnancies. This in turn will affect their ability to deliver normal weight babies and under the national nutrition mission, reduction of low-weight babies is an important target. Secondly, there is an issue with access of nutritious food as lot of people still have poor access to social security and public entitled programmes, so overall it can have a potential impact on nutritional targets for the country.
M.K. Padma Kumar is involved in developing strategies and managing operations for the IPE Global Group.
He has over 25 years of experience in the development sector, working in civil society organisations and international development agencies like DANIDA and DFID. As the Head of State Partnerships at the DFID India, he was responsible for developing partnerships, programme design, management and strategic oversight of all programmes implemented in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. He has managed various development programmes. His expertise lies in driving operational, financial and programmatic transformations. Before DFID, he was associated with Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), Help Age and World Wildlife Fund.
He holds a Master’s degree in Business Management with specialisation in Human Resource Management and Finance. He is extensively trained in Project Cycle Management, Grant Management, Performance Management, Leadership Skills and Change Management.
