Hunger in India

India has not been very successful in tackling the issue of hunger and that the rate of progress is very slow.

Related data

• Global Hunger Index 2022: India ranked 107 among 121 countries. India was accorded a score of 29.1 out of 100 (with 0 representing no hunger), placing it behind Sri Lanka (66), Myanmar (71), Nepal (81) and Bangladesh (84). 

Causes of Hunger and Malnutrition

The hunger problem has been exacerbated by the pandemic.

• Due to pandemic: Weekly bazaars in the villages were not functional during the lockdown, causing loss of livelihood.

• People living in villages in the forests can’t do farming in the forest land.

• Adults: Adults are at a sustainable age — they are not growing but rather subsisting on nutrition for healthy survival.
• Childrens: fatal mix of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments.

• Children are most vulnerable to hunger and thus having potential deficiency of vitamins and minerals. 
• Almost 35% of Indian children are stunted.
• Also, 17.3% of Indian children under five are wasted, which is the highest prevalence of child wasting in the world.

• Population with insufficient caloric intake.
• Insufficient protein: Pulses and eggs are basic source of proteins which are inadequate and missing from mid-day meals.

Hidden hunger: 

• Hidden hunger is a form of undernutrition that occurs when intake and absorption of vitamins and minerals (such as zinc, iodine, and iron) are too low to sustain good health and development.
• Deficiency: While clinical signs of hidden hunger, such as night blindness due to vitamin A deficiency and goitre from inadequate iodine intake.
• Developing world: Although a larger proportion of the burden of hidden hunger is found in the developing world, micronutrient deficiency, particularly iron and iodine deficiency, is also widespread in the developed world.
• Places with hidden hunger: Much of Africa south of the Sahara and the South Asian subcontinent are hotspots where the prevalence of hidden hunger is high.

Government initiatives to fight Hunger

• One Nation One Ration card: Drive to allow all National Food Security Act (NFSA) migrant beneficiaries avail sufficient food grains from any fair price shop, anywhere in the country by using their existing ration card with biometric authentication. 

• Centre claims that 69 crore NFSA beneficiaries, i.e., 86% NFSA population have been brought under the ONORC plan by December 2020.

• Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana: It will concentrate on people who have recently entered the labour force, particularly dropouts from classes X and XII and workers.
• Swachh Bharat Abhiyan: The Swachh Bharat Mission’s push for toilets for all and ending open defecation may have resulted in better sanitation outcomes.
• Fiscal stimulus: The Government announced a fiscal stimulus worth ?2 lakh crore, or 1% of GDP.

• The majority of India’s stimulus package took the form of credit lines and refinancing schemes to private enterprises

• Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY): To assist the agricultural industry in achieving 4% annual growth, the Rastriya Krishi Vikas Yojana was launched. 

Poshan Abhiyan: to ensure attainment of malnutrition free India by 2022. 

• The objective of POSHAN Abhiyaan to reduce stunting in identified Districts of India with the highest malnutrition burden by improving utilization of key Anganwadi Services and improving the quality of Anganwadi Services delivery. 

• Its aim to ensure holistic development and adequate nutrition for pregnant women, mothers and children.

• The Poshan Tracker management application provides a 360-degree view of the activities of the Anganwadi Centre (child care centres), service deliveries of Anganwadi Workers and complete beneficiary management for pregnant women, lactating mothers and children under six.

• More than 57,000 migrant workers have registered for the special one nation one Anganwadi programme under which even if people relocate to another State, they can avail of the benefits given to children under six years and pregnant women and lactating mothers by the government.

• Since the launch of the Poshan Abhiyan in 2018, a total of 10 crore 6 lakh beneficiaries have been registered out of which 47.6 lakh were lactating mothers, 7.48 crore were pregnant women and rest children. Of these 9 crores 38 lakh have been Aadhar verified.

National Food Security Act (NFSA): 

• Under the NFSA, the entitlement of foodgrains per person per month is 5 kg for priority households’ category, while 35 kg per family per month for Antodaya Anna Yojna (AAY) families.
• Till December 2022, the NFSA beneficiaries were getting their foodgrains entitlement at a highly subsidised rate of ?1, ?2 and ?3 per kg for coarse cereals, wheat and rice, respectively.
• The Central Government will spend more than ?2 lakh crore in 2023 as food subsidy under the NFSA and other welfare schemes to remove the financial burden of the poor.
• The Centre has decided to provide 5 kg of free foodgrains per month for the 81 crore beneficiaries of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) during 2023, rather than charging them a subsidised amount as is currently done.

Challenges

• Not everyone covered: There could be more than 10 crore workers left outside the protective umbrella of the Food Safety Act as the statistics were based on the 2011 census.

• The Supreme Court directed States and Union Territories to provide ration cards to about eight crore migrant workers registered in the eShram portal but not covered under the National Food Security Act by giving 3 months’ time.

• Expenditure: Burden of the expenditure for this distribution, which has estimated an additional amount of ?2 lakh crore.

• The Government has said that it will bear the expenses of food grains under the NFSA for 2023 and ensure free ration under the Act for the estimated 81.35 crore beneficiaries for that year.

• No updation of Population: Between the last Census in 2011 and today, population increase has not been accounted for in determining the number of ration cards.

• S.C directed the Union of India to “come out with a formula and/or appropriate policy/scheme, if any, so that the benefits under NFSA are not restricted as per the census of 2011 and more and more needy persons/citizens get the benefit under the National Food Security Act”.

Reforms needed

• Population Updation: It is very important that every beneficiary will be covered under this Act. NITI Aayog has also suggested that beneficiaries be updated in accordance with the most recent population estimate, which is being made as part of the 2011 Census.

• Aadhar cards linkage: Aadhar card linkage should be there. By using the Aadhar card one would come to know about the status of that person and whether he is beneficiary or not. In this way also he can avail the benefit.
• Understanding the hardships: Understanding or addressing the hardships of people who are deprived of the food security net that the PDS provides.
• Adding nutritional elements: Include essential nutrients, such as pulses and edible oils. Since India is a net importer of both, bringing them under the NFSA will increase productivity through better incentives and also help ensure nutritional security.
• Include Agriculture: The reforms should focus on strengthening the NFSA and its links with the agricultural sector.

Various Reports on Poverty and Hunger

• The World Bank’s Poverty and Shared Prosperity series provides the latest estimates and trends in global poverty and shared prosperity.

• The report analyses how fiscal policy was used in the first year of the pandemic to support the most vulnerable groups. 
• The number of people living in extreme poverty increased by more than 70 million in 2020 alone, the biggest one-year increase since global poverty monitoring started in 1990.

• The poorest 40% of the income distribution saw income losses on average of 4%, which was twice as much as the richest 20%.

• Global inequalities have increases.
• It also sheds light on the impact of taxes, transfers, and subsidies on poverty and inequality in 94 countries before 2020.
• With respect to India: India's support to the poor and needy during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis is remarkable, and other nations should adopt the Indian move of targeted cash transfer instead of broad subsidies.

• Helped by digital cash transfers, India managed to provide food or cash support to a remarkable 85 per cent of rural households and 69 per cent of urban households.

• Global Food Policy Report 2023: The 2023 Global Food Policy Report, released by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in April 2023, calls for rethinking food crisis responses.

• In the years between 2020 and 2022, food insecurity increased globally as a result of a number of crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, natural disasters, civil unrest, and political instability, according to the research.

• India: India’s food production could drop 16% and the number of those at risk for hunger could increase 23% by 2030 due to climate change, says a report.

• The number of Indians at risk from hunger in 2030 is expected to be 73.9 million in 2030 and, if the effects of climate change were to be factored in, it would increase to 90.6 million.

• Baseline projections indicate that global food production will grow by about 60% over 2010 levels by 2050 in the context of climate change.

• Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2022: prepared by UNDP and Oxford Poverty and Human Development Institute, 

• the number of poor people dropped by about 415 million in India over the past 15 years and the Multidimensional Poverty Index value and incidence of poverty has more than halved.
• In India, 415 million people exited poverty between 2005/06 and 2019/21, demonstrating that the Sustainable Development Goal target 1.2 of reducing at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions by 2030 is possible to achieve.

• The Global Hunger Index (GHI): 

• The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels. 

• India: With a score of 29.1, the level of hunger in India has been labelled “serious”.

• India ranked 107 out of 121 countries in the Global Hunger Index 2022 with its child wasting rate at 19.3 per cent, being the highest in the world.

Way Forward

• The Integrated Child Development Services programme aims to provide food, primary healthcare and immunisation services to young children and mothers.
• The focus needs to be on healthy mothers.
• The Swachh Bharat Mission’s push for toilets for all and ending open defecation may have resulted in better sanitation outcomes which could reflect in better maternal and child health.
• Access to healthy food: Three out of four rural Indians cannot afford the cheapest possible diet that meets the requirements set by the government’s premier nutrition body. The healthy food should be accessible easily to poor households.
• Public Distribution System: The substantial measure has been the provision of additional free foodgrains through the Public Distribution System (PDS).