Despite quintals of food grains rotting in government godowns, almost half of the country’s children remain hungry. A survey conducted in 112 districts, in nine states, has found that at least 42% of children, under the age of five years, are underweight and 59% stunted. Out of these, half are severely stunted and half are severely underweight by the age of two years. The survey was conducted by Nandi Foundation across 112 districts, including 100 focus districts of Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh were other surveyed states. Releasing a report on hunger and malnutrition (HUNGaMA) on Tuesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called malnourishment among children a “national shame”. It is reported that huge amount of money is being spent on the Anganwadi Centres under Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) in order to deal with malnutrition. Obviously government programmes and the huge spending is not able to make a dent on poverty amongst the poorest section. Interestingly, the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) has been suggesting that India can make a significant contribution to the global fight against malnourishment and hunger if it shows political will and makes its food distribution system more effective.
What would explain the fact that India has made major progress in food production yet it does not impact the poor? A well known Indian scientist once commented that India’s is a case of famine in the midst of plenty. It is obvious that the state-run public distribution system (PDS) has failed to deliver to the poor and needy. It has failed to deliver food to the poor and end malnourishment. This is the crux of the matter—corruption and inefficiency in the PDS. And going by this trend, India is unlikely to achieve the UN Millennium Development goals of halving poverty and education for all children by 2015. A corrupt system and the lack of political will are behind many of the problems faced by ordinary people. While no doubt, poverty in India is endemic and does not make for easy solutions, one will have to ensure effective implementation of anti-poverty schemes. There is a plethora of such programs but all without much direction and focus leading to its colossal failure. Poverty alleviation programs in the country must be reorganized to give it greater focus and direction.
Not just across the country but even in Nagaland, it is a known fact that PDS commodities continue to be generously doled out to ‘ghosts’ or people with bogus names. Rather than looking at the PDS as an important constituent of the strategy for poverty eradication, more often than not, corrupt government officials look at PDS and civil supplies as commodities for pilferage—to make corrupt money that too at the cost of the poor. The PDS needs to be implemented with utmost transparency and efficiency. Whether it is rice, sugar or kerosene, the poorer section of society must get its due share of their entitlement. The concerned authorities who run our Food and Civil Supplies should also ensure periodical checking of ration cards to detect and eliminate the bogus cards and take action wherever necessary. Besides, transparent arrangement must be made to ensure delivery of the essential commodities to Fair Price Shop and its subsequent distribution to the intended beneficiaries. The present corrupt system that we come across in our everyday lives is anti-poor and will require a moral turnover if at all justice for the hungry is to become a reality.
