Opinion Thoughts for food
Food security needs us to plug leakages first
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Few would question the right to food activists criticism of the governments watered-down draft on the Food Security Bill. But the assumption that simply raising the quantity of subsidised grain and increasing the number of poor families entitled to such benefits is a complete answer to the complex problem of hunger and malnutrition is also misplaced. Past experience has shown that despite the governments willingness to act,and huge budget allocations for food subsidies India spends more than any other country on official nutrition programmes the impact has been minimal. India has a malnutrition rate of 46 per cent,and it has fallen by a mere 2 per cent in the last decade. In comparison,other countries have been far more successful in the battle against hunger. In Bangladesh,for instance,malnutrition rates fell by some 6 per cent in 10 years.
There is a lacuna in the implementation of our food security schemes because of leakages,failure of delivery systems (the government admitted on Wednesday that 20 per cent of its wheat is stored in the open),confused policies,corruption,inadequate monitoring and the lack of scientific interventions. Before rushing to announce a populist measure like food security,it makes sense to first learn from past mistakes. It is not legislation alone which is required,but an accompanying strategy which is both cost-effective and efficient. Otherwise budgets on food subsidies can end up merely as figures on paper.
Already,there is a debate questioning the Planning Commissions definition of poverty. By the commissions standards,only 27.5 per cent of the population falls below the poverty line. The Planning Commissions unrealistic cut-off mark of Rs 540 a month would suggest that the countrys malnutrition rates are 20 per cent higher than the poverty levels.
Apart from a realistic definition of poverty levels,the draft of the Food Security Bill has omitted two crucial aspects. It has completely ignored the most vulnerable section of the population,those under two years of age. Also,the proposed hunger satiation programme gives no thought to the nutritional aspect of the food provided.
Modern medicine has categorised hunger into two types: the gnawing hunger because of inadequate calories,and the hidden hunger brought about by a diet lacking essential vitamins and minerals. While the two conditions are often interchangeable,it is in the latter category that much of Indias malnourished population falls. Seventy five per cent of Indian children suffer from anaemia caused by lack of iron; 50 per cent get less than half their daily requirement of Vitamin A.
Ideally,the entire population should be beneficiaries of our subsidised public food programmes,but with limited resources it makes sense to focus first on those sections of the population which are in the greatest need of nutrition interventions. These target groups can be categorised not just on the basis of income,but also by age and geographical distribution.
The group most vulnerable to malnutrition is children under two years and pregnant and lactating mothers. Inadequate diet for infants leads to the retardation of physical and mental development,susceptibility to disease and low energy levels. And these conditions are often irreversible. The poor health of a pregnant and lactating mother impacts both on herself and her child. A third of Indian babies are underweight,weighing less than 2.5 kilograms.
The right to food activists have very correctly stressed the importance of amalgamating women and child welfare schemes and giving them statutory cover. Ironically,because of this powerful lobbys emphasis on hot-cooked meals,at the expense of all other nutrition interventions,most ICDS Anganwadis today make no distinction between tiny tots and children aged three to six. They forget that children between the ages of six months to one year have a gastric capacity of not more than 30 grams and require a totally different diet. Last year,the Ministry of Women and Child Development sent out guidelines to state governments,laying down nutrition norms for the ICDS. It recommended take-home rations of blended fortified mixes for children under three and fortified hot-cooked meals for older children. But there has been no attempt to enforce these guidelines. In fact,government policy remains unclear.
The proposed food bill could also benefit from studying the successful model provided by the National Rural Health Mission,which has focused largely on those regions in the country which have the worst health indices. Statistics show that 10 per cent of Indias villages and districts account for
28 per cent of malnutrition. It is logical to concentrate on these most vulnerable areas at the start,rather than aiming at a uniform application in the first go. Today,nutrition programmes work best in the more affluent states and are practically non-functional in poorer districts and tribal regions. By spreading its net too widely from the beginning,there is a danger that what should be the flagship legislation of UPA-II could come a cropper.
coomi.kapoor@expressindia.com
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