India Ranks 94th among 107 Countries in Global Hunger Index
Just ending the year 2020 is marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Till today (2 January) 84,391,600 people have been infected all over the world. 59,673,513 have recovered. 22,882,455 are still active and 1,828,250 have lost their lives. In India alone, 149,220 have died while 10,305,800 people were affected. Though new strain is alarming, yet the overall situation looks improving. The daily death count has dipped from +100 to -300.
However, to cope with ‘post-recovery complications’ and other deficiencies are hugely challenging, as the health services in the private sector are very expensive and in the public sector quite inadequate and unsatisfactory as Arshad Shaikh established in the last issue of this magazine (Public Health – the Lifeline of a Nation).
THE CHILDREN
It is good that by and large children remained safe from Coronavirus, but their vulnerability albeit indirectly is visible as the sky. A complete educational session has been wiped out. Online tutorials remained out of reach of many and did not present a substitute for schooling. The diligence of youngsters in studying has damped down. Many are lurking in the dark. More seriously the breakdown of the economy deprived them of nutrition and caused damage to their health perspective. Complete disruption of immunisation cycles coupled with inaccessibility to normal health services has made them vulnerable to several preventable diseases. It is well-known that ill health in childhood diminishes the future and cuts the life expectancy.
NUTRITION DEFICIENCY
The situation is grimmer for 12 crore school-going children belonging to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS). They have been deprived of their entitlement to get nutrition under the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDS). To provide “adequate nutritious food” for children is not optional but obligatory for India under the ‘UN Convention on the Rights of the Child’. Indefinite closure of schools cannot be just alibi for the indefinite suspension of MDS. It is depriving our next generation of health-safety. A densely populous nation like ours with poor health will mean a greater burden on public health services that are already shaky.
No doubt pilferage and corrupt practices have decreased the efficiency of MDS, yet it has been a vital source for the children, facing hunger, to get some nutritious food. The practice was first introduced in Tamil Nadu in 1962–63 in a limited way which was later upgraded in 1982 ‘to benefit more children suffering from malnutrition’. After seeing its success, till 1990-91 eleven more states implemented such programmes. The central government introduced “National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE)” in 1995 with dual objective “to help improve the effectiveness of primary education by improving the nutritional status of primary school children.”
The target was to provide cooked mid-day meals containing 300 calories and 12 grams of protein for each student of primary classes. However, some states deviated from the marked line and chose to dispense “dry ration” (in form of 3 Kg rice or wheat) to the students with 80% attendance. This deviation obviously spoiled the main objective of feeding the children with nutrition. It is noticed that the subsidiary objective of attracting poor children to schooling was achieved remarkably but imparting education remains a distant dream yet.
SC INTERVENTION
The Supreme Court widened the scope of the food scheme while partially accepting a PIL filed by PUCL in 2001. The PIL argued that the Constitution of India makes the right to food a derived fundamental right of every citizen. Providing mid-day meals is a part of this right. And that every poor family should be fed from the excess stock of FCI. On this the SC order made obligatory to provide cooked midday meal for a minimum 200 days/ year to the children enrolled in primary classes.
SC also passed several interim orders, including one: “The Central Government… shall also allocate funds to meet with the conversion costs of food-grains into cooked midday meals.” (20 April 2004)
In another order, SC directed, “In drought affected areas, midday meals shall be supplied even during summer vacations.” Beyond this all the ‘National Rural Health Mission’ entitled students to get cash for purchasing micronutrients (vitamin A, iron, and foliate) tablets and de-worming medicines.
In yet another order, SC directed, “In the appointment of cooks and helpers, preference shall be given to Dalits, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes.”
It is unfortunate that corruption cropped in and pilferage deprived many children of their due. The Ministry of Human Resource Development (now Education Ministry) reports (2010-12) show that 95% of tested meal samples prepared by NGOs in Delhi did not meet the required quantity and nutritional standards. However, it is also acknowledged that the scheme has benefited educationally and economically weaker sections in reducing hunger and improving literacy.
GLOBAL HUNGER INDEX
But satisfaction seems to elude. According to Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2020, India ranks 94 out of 107 countries in the Index. It is lower than two other countries of our sub-continent; Bangladesh (75) and Pakistan (88). The report made a stunning revelation that India has the highest prevalence of underweight children below the age of five years in the world. It reflects acute under-nutrition in youngsters. The situation has worsened in 2015-19 period, when the prevalence of child wasting was 17.3%, in comparison to 2010-14, when it was 15.1%.
IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED
To correct the alarming situation and save our future generation from poor health, immediate and rigorous action is needed. India can become strong only if our population is physically and mentally healthy. Acquiring expensive war equipment is ok but the government should resume vaccination derive without delay and provide Mid-Day meals for children even if classes remain suspended. Legally the government is bound to provide Mid-Day meals for at least 200 days in a calendar year. The deficiency should be compensated. If farmer unions can feed thousands on roads, why government agencies cannot arrange food for hungry citizens, especially under-weight and malnourished children?
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