Frog, Worms In Food Expose Madhya Pradesh's Hunger Crisis

First, a dead frog in the hostel food. Then, dal with worms crawling inside in an Anganwadi meal. Within days, two separate food scandals in Shivpuri district have laid bare a chilling truth: in Madhya Pradesh, children are not just battling hunger and malnutrition, they are being fed indignity on their plates.

The latest case came from Ward No. 4 Anganwadi in Karaira tehsil, where parents erupted in anger after worms were found floating in the dal served to their children. Shocked mothers demanded action, accusing the system of "playing with the lives of our children." The food supplier fled when confronted by workers, while local officials scrambled to contain the outrage.

This came barely a day after Jagatpura hostel in Kolaras tehsil served vegetables with a dead frog in them. Students themselves exposed the incident by sharing photographs, accusing the hostel warden of gross negligence.

Project Officer S. Shekharan of the Women and Child Development Department admitted worms were found in dal, saying a notice has been issued and an inquiry begun. Yet his defence that "no other Anganwadi has reported complaints" rings hollow in a district where children keep dying of malnutrition.

While officials promise investigations, the headlines are tragically familiar. Just few days back 15-month-old Divyanshi of Shivpuri died weighing only 3.7 kg. She had been flagged earlier under the government's Dastak Abhiyan as malnourished, with dangerously low hemoglobin levels of 7.4 g/dl.

Days before that, Radhika, a tribal girl from Sheopur, barely 1.5 years old, died weighing 2.5 kg a quarter of what a healthy child should weigh. Her mother said she was healthy at birth but wasted away within months.

In Bhind district, another toddler died in July at Lahar Civil Hospital. Doctors deny malnutrition, families allege otherwise, but the pattern is unmistakable.

Madhya Pradesh remains the epicenter of child malnutrition in India: 10 lakh children are malnourished, including 1.36 lakh severely wasted. 85,330 children have been admitted to NRCs in tribal blocks from 2020 to June 2025. Annual admissions rose from 11,566 in 2020-21 to 20,741 in 2024-25.

In just the first three months of this year, 5,928 children have already needed treatment.The national malnutrition rate in under-5 children is 5.40%, but in Madhya Pradesh it stands at a staggering 7.79%. 57% of women are anemic, passing weakness to the next generation even before birth.

The Centre's Nutrition Tracker App has flagged 45 of 55 districts in the state as "red zone" in May 2025, meaning over 20% of children are underweight.

Madhya Pradesh spends Rs 980 per child at NRCs and just Rs 12 a day for severely malnourished children in Anganwadis, an amount critics say can't even buy two bananas.

Despite a Rs 4,895 crore nutrition budget, children continue to die, with corruption and lack of interest in solving the matter deepening the crisis. A Rs 858 crore scam in food procurement exposed by NDTV and confirmed by the CAG has seen little accountability.

While the government claims innovations in some districts, the reality is worms in dal, frogs in plates, and families grieving malnourished children. The state's crisis is no longer about poverty alone it is a governance failure.