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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Republic of Hunger-Akash Bisht

Republic of Hunger-Akash Bisht

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published Published on Feb 16, 2013   modified Modified on Feb 16, 2013
-Hard News Media

Despite the high economic growth, India has the highest proportion of malnourished children in the world. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and others gathered at IIT Delhi to discuss the Food Security Bill

The jam packed Dogra auditorium of IIT Delhi was a testimony to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen’s popularity amongst students, teachers, activists, economists, among others who had congregated to hear him talk on the Food Security Bill. Organised by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Delhi, the panel discussion, Food and Nutrition: Time to Act, focused on the Food Security Bill and whether it would make any difference to the millions of malnourished children in India. The other panelists included Planning Commission Deputy Chairman, Montek Singh Ahluwalia; Shantha Sinha, Chairperson, National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR); Shyama Singh of NREGA Sahayata Kendra, Jharkhand and Reetika Khera of IIT Delhi, who also moderated the discussion.        

In his presentation, Professor Amartya Sen said that as an Indian citizen he wants a political change not so much in the nature of the parties but whether they are doing enough in what they ought to do. “The extent of the health care crisis inIndiais very appalling and what is striking is how little attention it gets in media in comparison to everything else …it is a matter of concern that some people have it and others don’t. So, this is a major issue to understand equality.”

He added, “I think we have to really integrate the fact that we know something about human capabilities and that depends on the care with which children are fed and educated. And not only that but also how mothers are fed. So we have to take a broad based view about human capabilities for the sake of social justice and well-being.”

Before Prof Sen’s arrival, Shyama Singh from Jharkhand, shared her experiences about the several welfare schemes and their implementation. She spoke about the irregularities in various government-sponsored schemes including MGNREGS, Aanganwadi and PDS in Jharkhand. Recounting her experiences, she said that the poor villagers are being duped by contractors and government officials and also alleged that two activists were killed by the contractor mafia after they exposed corruption in the MGNREGS. She also exposed several anomalies in the implementation of these schemes and how poor villagers were struggling to access these government sponsored benefits.

Shantha Sinha of NCPCR then narrated hard hitting facts on malnutrition and said, “It’s a matter of great shame that we have been able to send a satellite but haven’t been able to reach out to the hungry and malnourished children in our neighbourhoods.” She mentioned that 46 per cent of the children in the country are malnourished, 60 million below the age of 5 are underweight and 67 per cent of pre school deaths are attributed to malnourishment.

She then went on to criticise the Food Security Bill saying that the omission of Aanganwadi centres and ICDS from the final draft of the bill has anguished people across the country. She added, “The Standing Committee has withdrawn the clause of free meals to pregnant and lactating women through Aanganwadi and there is no reference to nutrition in the revised Bill.” She made several suggestions on how the problem of malnourishment can be addressed. “Universal coverage with quality food is the only way to radicalise democracy.”

Montek Singh Ahluwalia then took over and stressed that the data the other panelists are referring to are of 2005-06 and a lot has changed over the years. He stressed howIndiafares better than many other countries in the world. However, he agreed that the data was indeed shameful. “The fact is that we are not in a position today to say how effective these schemes been? The malnutrition is still very high and I have no doubt that one-third of children are still suffering from malnutrition. The difference with earlier data was that the rate of decline was very slow. The National Health Family Survey of the 1990s shows that unlike the data on poverty which show a sharp decline, the data on malnutrition doesn’t show a sharp decline.”

Ahluwalia then began spelling out the reasons for high levels of malnutrition. He blamed girls getting married at an early age and also wrong breastfeeding practices. “In large parts of the country, it is believed that the milk is dirty in the first few days while the medical opinion says that give the breast to the child soon after the birth,” he said. He also blamed sanitation, poverty and immunisation for malnourishment. He, however, conceded that it is a hypothesis and he is not an expert on the subject.

Montek further added that if the Bill is accepted than 67 per cent of the people would come under its purview. “The subsidy of food grains at present costs close to Rs 75,000 crore which is born by the government ofIndia. If the Bill is passed then we will add maybe 30,000 crore to this.” He then attacked the business media for alleging that the Bill would invoke the fiscal deficit. “We can afford that much. The present level of subsidy is 2.4 per cent of the GDP and if it is reduced to 1.4 per cent than there will be enough money for full subsidy.” He added that we need to get away with subsidies in petroleum products and fertilisers.

Hard News Media, 16 February, 2013, http://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2013/02/5819


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