NHRC, India C. iv. The Director of Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Civil Hospital, Lucknow, submitted a report dated 13.08.2019 reiterating that action was taken against the concerned doctor and staff for dereliction of duty, and that censure was recorded in their service book and their pay had been reduced by one increment. v. When no reply to the show cause notice was received, and it appeared that the concerned authority had nothing to urge against the opinion of the Commission, recommendation of monetary relief was confirmed by the Commission on 30.09.2020. vi. Subsequently, the Deputy Secretary, Medical Dept-VIII, vide communication dated 15.07.2021, informed the Commission that Rs. 2,50,000/- each was paid to the bank accounts of Ku. Diksha Singh and Ku. Priyansi Singh. The case was accordingly closed on 17.8.2021. Right to Food and Nutrition 7.25 India constantly grapples with the issues of hunger and malnutrition. The foregoing year brought numerous challenges in almost every field, especially for the marginalised and vulnerable sections of the society. The Covid-19 pandemic made the situation even worse in 2021. It was estimated that between 702 and 828 million people were affected by hunger. The number has grown by about 150 million since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. 7.26 The National Family Health Survey 2019-21 (NFHS-5) provides information on India's population, health, nutrition, and each State/Union Territory (UT). NFHS-5 fieldwork for India was conducted in two phases by 17 field agencies, and it gathered information from 636,699 households, 724,115 women, and 101,839 men. The reports have given the following figures — Anaemia in Children — 64.2 percent in Urban areas and 68.3 percentin Rural areas. Of the 22 States/UTs, 13 showed a rise in stunting, including some of the populous States like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Kerala. Wasting has either risen or remained stagnant in most States/UTs. The prevalence of anaemia among women in the age group of 15-49 years also shows a similar trend, with 16 States/ UTs showing an increase. 7.27 India is a State Party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for transforming the world by 2030 have also been endorsed by the Government of India. This, all the more, casts an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil the right to food of every citizen of India. The Government of India has been implementing food, livelihood and social security programmes, such as the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP), Midday Meal Scheme (MDMS), Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP) and Public Distribution System (PDS).The National Food Security Act 2013, the National Nutrition Strategy and the National Nutrition Mission all aim to promote the convergent approaches that reflect the multi-dimensional nature of food and nutrition insecurity and address the inequalities related to gender, age, disability, income, caste and region. In such a favourable policy environment, the Government’s efforts to address malnutrition and food insecurity have the potential to accelerate progress towards reaching ANNUAL REPORT 75 2021-22