The Challenge: Childhood at Risk

Mallu and Radha, migrant workers from Raichur, moved to Bangalore in search of a better life. For their children Nithya and Neha, settling into a new city felt difficult. Neha, aged 8, was forced to drop out of school to take care of little Nithya, aged 5.

The Bigger Picture: Undernourishment Impeding Growth
According to UNICEF, globally, severe acute malnutrition grips around 13.6 million children globally under the age of 5.2. For context, across India, as per the National Family Health Survey (2019-21), 32.1% of children under five years were underweight, 35.5% were stunted and 19.3% were wasted, leading to irreversible damage in a child’s holistic development. It adversely impacts:
🧠 Brain Development – reducing memory, focus, and learning potential
💪 Physical Growth & Immunity – making children more prone to disease and fatigue
💛 Emotional & Social Development – increasing isolation and behavioural challenges
⚡ Energy & Participation – keeping children from play that builds motor skills and confidence

These early gaps cascade into poor school readiness, low productivity, and intergenerational poverty.

The Policy Gap: Why Early Nutrition and Care Needs Investment

With India just spending 1.9% of GDP on early childhood development (UNICEF, 2023). policy frameworks (like the National ECCE Policy, Poshan Abhiyaan, and ICDS) recognise the link between nutrition and learning but the absorption of tangible benefits remain skewed. It is uneven, especially for migrant children who fall through the cracks of residence-based services. While the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) is easily accessible in theory, service disbursement remains uneven, especially for migrant children, owing to the extremely transient nature of migrant habitats.

Sampark’s ECCE Solution: Where Care Meets Nutrition

As per a World Bank analysis every ₹1 spent on early childhood nutrition can return up to ₹13 in better health, schooling, and productivity for a migrant child.

Sampark’s ECCE centres in Bangalore’s labour colonies are designed to care for early years of migrant children aged 0–6:
🍛 Daily nutritious meals and growth monitoring
📚 Stimulating age appropriate early learning activities
🧼 Hygiene routines and emotional care
👨👩👧 Parent counselling and community support

Nithya’s transformation is proof: Upon her enrollment in Sampark’s Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), her life transformed. Over six months, Nithya showed improvement in her health, only made possible through consistent intake of good nutrition, and care. Nithya is now an active, curious, and enthusiastic child who thrives in class. By pairing nutrition with nurturing, Sampark is showing how ECCE can fuel a child’s countless ambitions.