{"id":24241,"date":"2024-05-03T17:37:59","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T12:07:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=24241"},"modified":"2024-05-04T11:37:18","modified_gmt":"2024-05-04T06:07:18","slug":"indias-struggle-with-hunger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/03-05-2024\/indias-struggle-with-hunger","title":{"rendered":"India&#8217;s Struggle with Hunger"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Government Policies &amp; Interventions, Issues Arising out of their Design &amp; Implementation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-0dab4a35479cb7a88ac0f778de143bb9\" style=\"color:#015aa7\"><strong>In Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India lifted 135 million people out of poverty, however, malnutrition still remains an onerous challenge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-734eae0ff317860a7e8a704dd349833c\" style=\"color:#015aa7\"><strong>India\u2019s Achievements<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Poverty &amp; Hunger:&nbsp;<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>From 2015-16 to 2019-21, <strong>India lifted 135 million people out of poverty<\/strong>.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This is a commendable achievement based on the Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MDPI) prepared by the NITI Aayog.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>When India got freedom<\/strong> more than 80 percent of people were in extreme poverty, which today hovers around 15 per cent as per MDPI and <strong>about 11 per cent based on income criterion ($2.15 PPP)<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>UNDP <\/strong>has estimated that India lifted 415 million people out of poverty (MDPI) over the period 2005-06 to 2019-21.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India seems to be <strong>on track to almost abolish poverty<\/strong> in the next five to 10 years.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>On <strong>hunger<\/strong>, at least in terms of food availability, India has done well.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Revolutionising India:<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Green revolution: The Green Revolution<\/strong> turned India from a \u201cship to mouth\u201d economy to the largest exporter of rice. It has also enabled India to give free rice or wheat (5kg\/month\/person) to more than 800 million people under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, thus improving their economic access to basic staples.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>White revolution:<\/strong> India also experienced the <strong>White Revolution (milk)<\/strong> and emerged as the largest producer of milk (222 MT), with the US coming at number two with just 102 MT of milk production.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gene revolution: The gene revolution <\/strong>in cotton that was triggered by introduction of Bt cotton, made India the largest producer of cotton.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-96b437eb9c587c352fa5b10202019c3a\" style=\"color:#015aa7\"><strong>Challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Malnutrition: <\/strong>Malnutrition is still a challenge, especially amongst children below the age of five.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>As per NFHS-5 (2019-21), 32 percent of children were underweight, 35 per cent stunted, and 19 per cent wasted.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Although India made reasonably good progress in reducing infant mortality from 57 per 1,000 in 2005-06 to 35 per 1,000 in 2019-21, the progress on other indicators of malnutrition is not very satisfactory.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Climate change &amp; food insecurity: <\/strong>Climate change and the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, from heat waves to flash floods, pose a big challenge not only to India\u2019s food system but also to poverty alleviation \u2013 gains could reverse with these shocks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Non-communicable diseases: <\/strong>The rising burden of <strong>cardiovascular <\/strong>and other <strong>non-communicable diseases<\/strong> in India, particularly among the rapidly growing \u201cmiddle class\u201d, is strongly linked to diet and nutrition.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-9f63f1dfc623910500c315049fec7b3f\" style=\"color:#015aa7\"><strong>Causes of Malnutrition<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Calorific deficiency:<\/strong> Though the government has surplus of foodgrains, there is calorific deficiency because of improper allocation and distribution. Even the yearly allocated budget is not fully utilized.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Protein deficiency:<\/strong> Pulses are a major panacea to address protein deficiency. However, there is a lack of budgetary allocation for inclusion of pulses in PDS. With Eggs missing from menus of Mid-day Meals in various States, an easy way to improve protein intake is lost.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Micronutrient deficiency (hidden hunger): <\/strong>India faces a severe crisis in micronutrient deficiency. Its causes include poor diet, prevalence of disease or non-fulfilment of increased micronutrient needs during pregnancy and lactation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-a77b96ad2d0bdbccca9759fda83e561b\" style=\"color:#015aa7\"><strong>Suggestions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Access to nutritious food: <\/strong>It is time to elevate<strong> food intake among young children<\/strong> to be of primary importance, as opposed to being<strong> referred to as \u201ccomplementary\u201d<\/strong> in policies and guidelines related to maternal, infant and young child nutrition.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Access to <strong>adequate and affordable nutritious food<\/strong> is equally necessary for mothers for <strong>healthy breastfeeding<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Need of improved assessments: <\/strong>To better understand food security for all populations in India, assessments using<strong> household-level food insecurity modules<\/strong> developed by the Food and Agriculture Organisation can be adapted to measure the extent of food insecurity among Indian households.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Evidence-based policy: <\/strong>Measuring the<strong> availability, accessibility and affordability of nutritious food<\/strong>, especially for<strong> disadvantaged and vulnerable populations<\/strong> such as young children, constitutes the foundation for any evidence-based policy to end hunger and improve nutritional security among Indians.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana: <\/strong>To achieve the SDG of zero hunger, and building on the <strong>Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana<\/strong>, India should consider a strategic initiative led by the Prime Minister\u2019s Office<strong> aimed at eliminating food insecurity in India<\/strong> and <strong>ensuring affordable access <\/strong>to sufficient quantity and quality of nutritionally diverse food, with a special and immediate focus on India\u2019s youngest children.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-3afd5e9ad74af1be02462bab945ff554\" style=\"color:#015aa7\"><strong>Government Interventions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Eat Right India Movement:<\/strong> An outreach activity organized by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for citizens to nudge them towards eating right.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>POSHAN Abhiyan: <\/strong>Launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2018, it targets to reduce stunting, undernutrition, anaemia (among young children, women and adolescent girls).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana: <\/strong>A centrally sponsored scheme executed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, is a maternity benefit programme being implemented in all districts of the country with effect from 1st January, 2017.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Food Fortification:<\/strong> Food Fortification or Food Enrichment is the addition of key vitamins and minerals such as iron, iodine, zinc, and Vitamin A &amp; D to staple foods such as rice, milk and salt to improve their nutritional content.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Food Security Act, 2013: <\/strong>It legally entitled up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population to receive subsidized food grains under the Targeted Public Distribution System.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mission Indradhanush:<\/strong> It targets children under 2 years of age and pregnant women for immunization against 12 Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPD).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme: <\/strong>Launched in 1975, the ICDS Scheme offers a package of six services to children in the age group of 0-6 years and pregnant and lactating mothers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-ffc75e4cf6ba11eb8d83f50120d1a3a8\" style=\"color:#015aa7\"><strong>Way ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A straightforward answer to these challenges would be to keep the focus on accelerating economic growth and making it more inclusive.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fixing the pre-existing schemes<\/strong> is another important solution to addressing India\u2019s multi-dimensional nutrition challenge.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Getting the already existing schemes right requires greater involvement of <strong>local government and local community groups<\/strong> in the design and delivery of tailored nutrition interventions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Daily Mains Question<\/strong><br><strong>[Q] <\/strong>What are the causes of malnutrition for India, that lifted 135 million people out of poverty in the last five years? Suggest policy measures to address the issue of malnutrition.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Daily-Editorial-Analysis-03-05-2024.pdf\">Download PDF<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India lifted 135 million people out of poverty, however, malnutrition still remains an onerous challenge..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial-analysis"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24241"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24255,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24241\/revisions\/24255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}