Activists slam India's 'inadequate' policies for food security

Right to Food Campaign's Dipa Sinha said the government's response to the index was an attempt at diverting from the situation on the ground

Activists on Friday expressed concern over the "inadequate" policy initiatives of the government in dealing with hunger and malnutrition in India and found fault with its rejection of the Global Hunger Index that put India at a dismally low ranking, saying the authorities were completely ignoring the situation on the ground.

They claimed that food insecurity has risen especially after the Covid-19 pandemic despite the additional support provided through the PMGKAY.

Addressing a press conference, Right to Food Campaign's Dipa Sinha said the government's response to the index was an attempt at diverting from the situation of hunger and food insecurity in the country.

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Emphasising that Covid-19 has eaten into the savings of the people, Sinha said single women, Dalits and Adivasis were increasingly facing hunger, a fact that none could skirt anymore. She wondered how India could not improve its ranking when several other countries, including the neighbours, managed progress.

Sinha said the Hunger Watch surveys conducted by the Right to Food Campaign clearly showed that there has been a "worsening" in food security in both quantity and quality compared to the pre-Covid period.

Activist Anjali Bhardwaj, who along with others petitioned the Supreme Court on providing help to migrant labourers during Covid-19, said the government has not made any provision for providing rations to people who do not have ration cards though it is acknowledging economic distress and hunger among people by extending PMGKAY.

Bhardwaj said there are "huge gaps" in the government's response to the distress caused by Covid-19.

Emphasising the role of MNREGA, which can put money in the pockets of the poor, activist Nikhil Dey said the scheme has been squeezed in "unprecedented" ways in these times of distress.

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Jan Swasthya Abhiyan's Dr Vandana Prasad said that such indexes point to the overall concerning situation of hunger, malnutrition and poor health outcomes for people, especially children.

She said malnutrition in children is not just having an inadequate quantity of food in the body but a combination of lack of access to adequate and nutritious food and lack of access to health facilities, which adversely affects their physical and cognitive development.

Activist Harsh Mander pointed out that all evidence points to increasing inequality and poverty in the country but the response of the government is marked by sheer insensitivity of the condition of millions of people who have been deeply impacted by the adverse impact of livelihood during the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns and the runaway inflation.