Poor in India Need Free Foodgrains
India leads the world in hunger. According to the Global Hunger Index, which is calculated by the International Food Policy Research Institute, India has close to 350 million people who are 'food insecure' -- in other words, who are not sure where their next meal will come from.
To put that into context, that is the same as the entire populations of Germany, France and the United Kingdom, all put together. The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation believes that over 1 billion people will go hungry in 2010.
Economywatch.com Dwayne Ramakrishnan wrote, 'Endemic problems such as corruption, poor infrastructure and a lack of access to funds continue to be a problem in India.'
The Supreme Court on August 12 asked the Centre to consider free distribution of food grains to the hungry poor of the country instead of allowing it to rot in Food Corporation of India godowns.
The Apex Court in an order directed the Union government to conduct a fresh survey of the Below Poverty Line/Above the Poverty Line/Antyodaya Anna Yojana beneficiaries on the basis of the figures available for 2010 and said the authorities cannot rely on a decade-old data to extend the benefits.
The bench further said that the government must take urgent steps to prevent further rotting of food grains while maintaining that it must procure only that much quantity which it can preserve.
But unfortunately Agriculture Minister Mr Sharad Pawar said, "The Supreme Court's suggestion (for free grain) is not possible to implement." Further Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said, it was not possible to give free food grains to all the poor, he said while answering a question on the order of the Apex Court which had directed Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar to distribute food grains to the poor instead of allowing them to rot.
When I was discussing with my friend on free distribution of food grains to the poor, he jokingly said, we don't have an agriculture minister; we have Cricket Minister, who is hungry for name, fame and money. The Agriculture Minister said once about sugar that it may cause Diabetes, but now he may say that eating food causes Obesity. I asked him this is a joke or reality? Hope the time will answer.
I am not sorry to say that our PM and his ministers are discouraging & criticising the supreme court’s decision to distribute free food grains to the poor, but once if the scheme is implemented they may name it as Rajiv Gandhi Free Food Grain Scheme and take full credit of it in elections to garner votes.
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