Campaign in South Rajasthan targets hidden hunger among elderly

By Bharat Dogra 

Among the many dimensions of food security, ensuring adequate nutrition for older people has received far less attention than it deserves. Yet proper nutrition in old age is central to healthy ageing and, by extension, to the well-being of entire households and communities.

Medical research has repeatedly underlined this link. In their paper “Aging, Longevity, and Healthy Aging: The Public Health Approach” published in the journal Aging Clinical and Experimental Research (2025), Vincenza Glanfredi and colleagues emphasise that proper nutrition in older adults must prioritise the preservation of muscle and bone mass. Adequate protein intake is essential to counter sarcopenia—the age-related loss of muscle mass and strength—while sufficient calcium and vitamin D are critical for bone health, helping prevent osteoporosis and fractures. Promoting diets rich in high-quality proteins and essential nutrients, they argue, is fundamental to maintaining health and functional independence in later life.

Despite such well-established evidence, the nutritional needs of a significant proportion of older persons in India remain unmet. This is so even though pensions and subsidised or free foodgrains are available under various government schemes. Data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI), Wave 1, conducted by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, show that 27 per cent of Indians aged 60 and above are underweight. The situation is far worse in rural areas, where the prevalence of underweight elderly persons is nearly three times higher (32 per cent) than in urban areas (12 per cent). Among Scheduled Tribes, the figure rises alarmingly to 41 per cent.

These realities underline the urgent need for focused campaigns to improve nutrition among older people, particularly in remote rural and tribal regions where vulnerability is compounded by poverty, isolation and limited access to services.

One such initiative is Prabal Yatra (PY), an ongoing campaign in several rural, predominantly tribal clusters of South Rajasthan. It has been initiated by the voluntary organisation Action Research and Training for Health (ARTH), which works on community health issues.

During a recent visit to some of these villages with ARTH team members, I met Kanaram in Sandukon Ka Guda village in Kumbhalgarh block. A Dalit small farmer, Kanaram lives with his son Laluram, who has a low-paid and uncertain job in a nearby small hotel. Kanaram’s own capacity to work has been severely reduced following a jeep accident.

The family owns less than five bighas of land. Food production from this small holding has declined over the years due to adverse weather linked to climate change and the increasing intrusion of wild animals into fields. Neither the 70-year-old Kanaram nor his son can work the land adequately, and hiring labour is often beyond their means.

Kanaram recalls that a decade or two ago, the farm yielded more food. Crops grown using traditional organic manure (desi khaad), he says, were more nourishing. Grain was ground into flour using a hand-operated chakki, which, in his words, “gave more strength.” Today, maize and wheat grown on the farm meet only a part of their food needs, while pulse production has declined even more sharply.

The family keeps a buffalo, and the small quantity of milk obtained is mostly processed into chaach (buttermilk), a relatively affordable source of calcium and protein. Chaach mixed with maize flour is used to prepare raabri, a common local dish. While this is among the cheapest nutritious foods available locally, it is far from sufficient to meet all dietary needs.

As a result, the household increasingly depends on government support—five kilograms of wheat per person per month under the free ration scheme, amounting to 10 kilograms for the two-member family. Kanaram also receives an old-age pension of about ₹1,000 per month. By combining farm produce, ration supplies and pension income, the family manages to avoid outright hunger, though nutritional adequacy remains elusive.

Cooking itself can be a challenge for older persons. Kanaram manages for now, but his son struggles to make rotis due to lingering physical limitations after his accident. For elderly people living alone, such difficulties are often even more severe.

In this context, Prabal Yatra attempts to intervene in practical and locally relevant ways. Since pensions and rations are critical lifelines, community workers help elderly persons resolve issues related to documentation, digital authentication and access to entitlements—areas where older people often struggle without assistance.

PY also encourages the use of small plots near homes to develop raised-bed vegetable gardens. Even tiny patches of land can produce seasonal vegetables that diversify diets and improve micronutrient intake. Kanaram, for instance, has recently grown tomatoes, carrots and green leafy vegetables such as methi in his small garden, enabling more regular consumption of fresh produce.

Monthly village meetings of older men and women provide a forum to discuss nutrition challenges and share ideas based on locally available foods. Participants also exchange suggestions on dishes that are easier for older people to chew and digest. Occasionally, special community nutrition meetings are organised where a suitable dish is cooked and shared collectively. At one such gathering in Majavari village in Gogunda block of Udaipur district, elderly participants prepared khichri—rice and pulses cooked together with green vegetables. Despite the hardships many faced individually, the meeting was marked by warmth, solidarity and lively conversation.

Elderly persons living alone face the gravest risks. Securing daily food supplies, cooking meals and even fetching drinking water can become formidable tasks. At a broader level, there is also a need to sensitise younger family members—whether co-residing or living separately—to assume greater responsibility for the nutrition and care of older relatives.

With sustained and community-based efforts, meaningful improvements can be made in the food security and nutritional well-being of older people. As India’s elderly population continues to grow, integrating their specific nutritional needs into mainstream food security policies is not merely desirable—it is imperative.

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The writer is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include A Day in 2071, Man over Machine, When the Two Streams Met, and Earth without Borders