Securing the Future

Strategizing Child Development in Karnataka in the Aftermath of COVID-19

Abstract

COVID-19 has disrupted routine functioning of the economy and the delivery of welfare programs everywhere. Using the case of Karnataka, this paper document the size of the economic impact on both the state and its households, and the status of various child-specific schemes managed by the Government of Karnataka over 2020- 21. With shrinking household consumption and rising deficits of the state, there is need for operational focus on child development to ensure a healthy future for children in India. Using district level data from NFHS 5, this paper proposes a simple and easy- to-implement prioritization framework, which can be used to identify geographic focus for child development schemes in Karnataka, in order to address deficits that matter for the Global Hunger Index in a time of tightening budget constraints for both the state and households.