We need public soup kitchens to feed the hungry

In the heated debate over what should be done with the overflowing granaries, it is not surprising that no attention is paid to some of the simple issues.

The issue of not allowing people to starve or go hungry when you have plenty of foodgrains around.

The Supreme Court wanted the foodgrains to be distributed for free among the poor and hungry.

Of course, the court was giving its view based on the facts presented to it. If there was so much of foodgrains and they are rotting away, then it makes sense to distribute them for free because there are millions who need them desperately.

The court did not seem to understand the logistic problems in carrying out such an operation. It would have required identifying the poor and the hungry. They are all not in the same place. Of course, it is not the court’s job to work out the details.

Food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar’s response was a pragmatic one. He said it will not be possible to give away the foodgrains, and what he meant was that it is a complicated process. He should have explained what the problems are because they are real ones.

Chief economic advisor in the finance ministry Kaushik Basu has given a partial explanation of the problem. He said that the free grain would be bought by merchants who would then sell it back to government.

As a result, government would be subsidising the middle-men and not the poor. It sounds sensible but not sufficiently so. He should have suggested ways of how to reach the grain to the poor.

Instead, he thinks that the excess grain should be sold on the Chicago grain market in the futures category, so that government can buy it back when it needs the grains. That is an economist’s view and therefore not entirely practical or satisfactory given the issue of the hungry and starving.

The real issue is if a person is starving, then it does not make sense to give them the grains. What is needed is a public kitchen or a langar, the Indian equivalent of a soup kitchen, to feed them.

It is indeed a matter of shame if there is enough food in the country and people go hungry. It is true that government is just not capable of dealing with it. Many have cited the failure in administering the mid-day meal scheme in schools.

Can we trust the NGOs to implement the scheme? It seems like politicians, the NGOs are quite good at making a noise about it — which is good in itself — but not so good in finding or suggesting solutions. What we need then are groups and organisations with enough moral fervour to set up kitchens and serve the hungry.

They can even buy the foodgrains either in the market or from the government. Whatever the intricacies of policy and the difficulties of implementing them, the simple thing is that when a society has enough it should not allow starvation and hunger in its midst. What is missing is the moral commitment.

The Sikhs manage the langar successfully in the gurdwaras and this needs to be replicated in the public sphere. We need the people to do it because we have the means. Why is it not happening? Because there is a moral disconnect. We do not care. It is a damning state of affairs. If we have the means and we do not do anything about it, it means that our hearts are hardened.

It is much worse than facing hard times. Those who are shouting the loudest on behalf of the poor are no better than those who have turned their faces away from it all because they refuse to act.