Implement SC directions on issuing ration cards to excluded population: Right to Food Campaign

Counterview Desk 

On the Occasion of World Food Day, 16th October 2024, marking the foundation of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1945, the advocacy network*, Right to Food Campaign, has demanded a dignified Right to Food and life for all.

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October 16th is celebrated as World Food Day, marking the foundation of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1945. The theme for this year is ‘Right to Food for a Better Life and a Better Future’. This is an occasion for us to review the status of the right to food in India and consider ways in which the right to food for all can be ensured. 

India once again ranks poorly in the Global Hunger Index, at 105 among 127 countries and falls under the ‘serious’ category. Compared to 2016 (the year for which comparable data is provided in the report) while there have been some improvements (although slow) in child malnutrition and mortality, the prevalence of undernutrition (PoU) as estimated by the FAO has increased from 11.5% to 13.7%. The PoU is estimated based on statistical modelling and this latest figure uses the data from the household consumption expenditure survey (HCES) of the NSS, along with data on availability, prices, incomes, trade and so on. One of the reasons for the increase in the PoU is the increase degree of inequality in food access. 

High levels of child malnutrition (stunting and wasting) in India are a reflection of food insecurity in households, poor dietary diversity, lack of maternal and child care services, low status of women, and inadequate access to health and sanitation. It is indeed a matter of concern that over 35% of children in the country are stunted (low height for age) and 19% of children are wasted (low weight for height) according to the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-2021). We hope that the Government of India, which has been denying the existence of food insecurity, takes this data as a wake-up call.  

Although the coverage under the PDS has expanded over the last decade, following the National Food Security Act (NFSA), it is clear that much more needs to be done. While the free grains provided to ration card holders contribute to their basic cereal consumption and have played an important role in protecting households at a time of distress, overall food security is still precarious given the unemployment problem, stagnant rural wages, low farm incomes along with an increase in retail food prices. In this context, much more needs to be done to strengthen and expand the government food schemes, while also tackling the larger economic issues of ensuring adequate employment and wages. 

An estimated 10 crore people are still excluded from the free grains through NFSA because the population figures from Census 2011 are still being used. Despite the Supreme Court directing the government to use projected population data, this is not being done. Similarly, in gross violation of SC orders a large number of unorganised sector workers who are registered in eShram portal and do not have ration cards have still not been issued cards.  Regarding this, on October 4th, 2024, the SC gave a final warning to Union and State Governments to implement directions on issuing ration cards to the excluded population, failure to comply with this order would force it to call the secretary of food or the concerned authority from the states to explain the reason for non-compliance (MA 94/2022 in ‘Re Problems and Miseries of Migrant Labourers’). 

10 crore people are still excluded from the free grains through NFSA because the population figures from Census 2011 are still being used

A narrow view of food security as including only cereals still prevails in policy. The longstanding demand for including pulses and edible oil in PDS has been ignored, notwithstanding an exponential rise in prices of essential commodities like oil, dal, vegetables, and other food items. The State of Food Insecurity (SoFI) 2024 report estimates that 55% of Indians cannot afford a healthy diet. Food prices and affordability of a nutritious diet must be taken in account while setting minimum wages, including NREGA wages. Currently, even the nutrition programmes for children and women like the mid-day meals (MDM) and Anganwadi services are not inflation-indexed. The budget allocation towards the Saksham Anganwadi and POSHAN 2.0 scheme in 2021-22 and 2022-23 has been lower than the allocation towards subsumed components in previous years. In 2023-24, the scheme was allocated Rs 25,449 crore, an increase of 6% over revised estimates of 2022-23 (Rs 23,913 crore).

The right to nutrition and food security should be one of the core objectives of any government. On the occasion of World Food Day, the Right to Food Campaign demands the expansion of the food basket of items provided under NFSA by adding dal and oil to the PDS basket, including millets and providing greater resources to school and Anganwadi feeding programmes to take into account inflation as well as making provisions for inclusion nutritious items such as eggs, milk and fruits. 

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