In a country aiming at a double-digit GDP (gross domestic product) growth, 42% of the population falls below the international poverty line — World Bank has fixed the poverty bar at an earning of $1.25 per day.
A powerhouse of a nation galloping its way to be among top global economies. This has been the routine tribute to India’s economic turnaround post-reforms. Glittering statistics seek to vindicate the growth story. But numbers could be deceptive. They could be masking the reality that growth has not translated into better lives for Indians.
Check this out. In a country aiming at a double-digit GDP (gross domestic product) growth, 42% of the population falls below the international poverty line — World Bank has fixed the poverty bar at an earning of $1.25 per day. Moreover, food insecurity stalks over 200 million Indians.
With annual production of rice and wheat at 85-90 million tonnes and 81 million tonnes, respectively, India is the second-largest producer of both food grains. Also, the country, according to data from the Maharashtra State Agriculture Marketing Board, produces about 58.7 million metric tonnes of fruit and 109 million metric tonnes of vegetable annually.
Despite this, no Indian state falls in the low or moderate hunger bracket, as defined by the Global Hunger Index. The India State
Hunger Index, which takes into account 17 states, reveals that even Punjab is below countries such as Nicaragua, Honduras, Armenia, Algeria. The index was prepared by the International Food Policy Research Institute.
Relatively better off states such as Haryana, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal fall in the “alarming” category with hunger indices between 20.0 and 29.9. Punjab, India’s granary, falls in the “serious” category with an index between 10.0 and 19.9, and Madhya Pradesh comes in the precarious bracket of “extremely alarming” with an index of over 30. The index captures three interlinked dimensions of hunger — proportion of population not consuming adequate calories, proportion of children dying before five years and proportion of underweight children. India’s CMR (child mortality rate) is 72 per 1,000, and over 80 million of its children are malnourished.
The study used a calorie cut-off of 1,632 kcals per person per day to ensure comparability of the state hunger index with the global index, which in 2009 ranked India 66th out of 88 developing countries, below Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Cameroon.
According to Purnima Menon, research fellow, International Food Policy Research Institute, economic development has not translated into improvements in indicators such as poverty and undernutrition.
Experts say the high hunger index has to do with a mix of factors such as poverty, poor administration and distribution of food, high scale corruption, etc, culminating in people not getting enough nutrients.
According to Rajeev Kumar, director, and chief executive, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), for over 10 years, per capita availability of food grains has been declining in India, which could precipitate nutrition levels.
“There has been a stagnation in the agriculture sector. Inter-state movement of food grains could also be a reason aggravating the problem of food security,” he said.
Programmes addressing women and children, and issues of malnutrition could help alleviate the situation, Menon said. “African women have greater control over resources and are better nourished than South Asian women. Programmes should aim at reducing poverty and improving awareness.”
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