Co-authored with Prof Charan Singh, IIMB
Introduction
Malnutrition
is a persistent problem in India, though it is often confused with hunger.
According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), about 18 per cent of
India’s population was undernourished in 2012. Undernourishment is the main
cause of children’s death, and according to UNICEF, India houses one-third of
stunted/wasted, termed malnourished, children of the world.
Food and Hunger
According
to different rounds of NSSO, the proportion of households in rural areas,
getting enough food every day of the year, increased from 94.5 percent in
1993-94 (NSS 50th round) to 99.0 percent in 2009-10 (66th
round). The proportion of rural households, not getting enough food every day,
for some months of the year, declined from 4.2 percent to only 0.9 percent
while those not getting for all months of the year, declined from 0.9 percent
to 0.2 percent. In the urban areas, where, to begin with, shortage was much
less, similar story unfolded. Thus food availability has reached a large
segment of the population and the gap between the rural and urban percentages
has narrowed appreciably.
In the
survey undertaken from July 2009 to June 2010, NSSO reported that percentage of
households not perceiving themselves as getting adequate food throughout the
year was 2.1 per cent or less in all major states except West Bengal (4.6
percent) and Odisha ((4.0 percent). In urban India, similar percentage was less
than 1.3 percent except Madhya Pradesh (1.4 percent). There are a few states in
which food inadequacy appears to reach a peak during some months,
illustratively, Arunachal (January, February, November and December), Odisha
(February), and West Bengal (February). Inadequacy of food is being addressed
through the targeted public distribution system (TPDS) and a wide network of
fair price shops (Table 1). Therefore, the incidence of food inadequacy has
declined in major states like Odisha and West Bengal, as well as across the country
from 2004-05 to 2009-10.
Calorie Deficiency
Some organization’s
measure hunger in terms of average calorie deficiency relative to a global norm.
This Calorie deficit (CD) is an average, which under the assumption that the
calorie distribution is normal suggests that people at the lower end of the
distribution may be consuming inadequate food. India’s calorie deficit is the
highest among the BRICs, but this is not surprising given India’s per capita
GDP is the lowest among the BRICs. The primary justification for the Indian PDS
system was to ensure that all Indian’s get adequate cereals (calories). It is widely accepted that the enormous
leakages in the PDS need to be plugged and the administrative costs reduced so
that higher proportion of the expenditure reaches the intended
beneficiaries.
A sharply
focused effort needs to be made to identify the hungry and calorie deficient
households, who may be living in remote/hilly areas, or families with
dis-functional male heads (drugs, alcoholism), aged or with serious
disabilities or female headed households.
Malnutrition: Wasting & Stunting
There is
still another persistent but separate issue of ‘malnutrition’ which is the main
cause of underweight children. For instance in Rajasthan, in 2004-05, there is
no food inadequacy but substantial ‘malnutrition’ as measured by underweight
children (Table 2). This could be due to poor sanitation represented by
non-existence of sewerage systems, open sewers, toilet facility and access to
piped water. A reduction in malnutrition can be achieved by a focused
nutritional and public health policy, better drinking water facilities, better
drainage and sewerage system, education and public campaign about nutrition,
hygiene and disease precaution
Table 1: Government Measures to Address
Inadequacy in Food
|
No. per 1000 of
households getting inadequate food some months of the year
2004-05
|
No. per 1000 of
households getting two square meals everyday only some months of the year
2009-10
|
Number of Fair price
Shops – in ‘000 - As on June 30, 2011
|
Off take of Rice and
Wheat under TPDS
(in lakh Tone) -
2012-2013
|
||||||
|
State
|
Rural
|
Urban
|
Rural
|
Urban
|
BPL
|
AAY
|
APL
|
Total
|
|
|
Andhra Pradesh
|
6
|
1
|
5
|
1
|
43.6
|
10.5
|
6.4
|
14.3
|
31.3
|
|
Assam
|
17
|
3
|
12
|
5
|
34.0
|
4.7
|
2.9
|
10.6
|
18.3
|
|
Bihar
|
20
|
8
|
11
|
5
|
44.4
|
14.4
|
10.1
|
1.8
|
26.3
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
26
|
1
|
10
|
0
|
10.4
|
4.8
|
3.0
|
3.9
|
11.7
|
|
Jharkhand
|
6
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
14.3
|
5.9
|
3.7
|
.1
|
9.7
|
|
Karnataka
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
20.5
|
8.1
|
4.3
|
10.5
|
23.0
|
|
Kerala
|
22
|
17
|
5
|
4
|
14.5
|
4.0
|
2.5
|
8.2
|
14.7
|
|
Madhya Pradesh
|
15
|
4
|
4
|
14
|
20.8
|
19.6
|
8.1
|
7.7
|
35.5
|
|
Odisha
|
48
|
4
|
39
|
5
|
28.4
|
11.7
|
5.1
|
4.3
|
21.2
|
|
Punjab
|
8
|
2
|
4
|
0
|
0.5
|
1.0
|
.5
|
4.5
|
6.1
|
|
Uttar Pradesh
|
14
|
7
|
6
|
1
|
73.4
|
27.9
|
16.9
|
20.7
|
65.6
|
|
West Bengal
|
106
|
7
|
38
|
8
|
20.2
|
15.5
|
5.8
|
14.8
|
36.2
|
|
All India
|
9
|
3
|
505.9
|
179.6
|
100.1
|
168.9
|
448.7
|
||
Table 2: Hunger, Poverty and
Malnutrition
|
States
|
Inadequate food % 2004-05
|
Poverty % of Population URP 2004-05
|
Malnutrition under 3 yrs underweight children % 2005-06
|
Public Health
% of Households using piped drinking water 2005-06
|
Public health% of households access to toilet facility 2005-06
|
|
AP
|
0.5
|
15.8
|
36.5
|
67.8
|
42.4
|
|
Assam
|
5.0
|
19.7
|
40.4
|
11.6
|
76.4
|
|
Bihar
|
2.7
|
41.4
|
58.4
|
4.2
|
25.2
|
|
Chhattisgarh
|
2.2
|
40.9
|
52.1
|
16.8
|
18.7
|
|
Jharkhand
|
0.6
|
40.3
|
59.2
|
11.3
|
22.6
|
|
Karnataka
|
0.2
|
25
|
41.1
|
57.4
|
46.5
|
|
Kerala
|
2.3
|
15
|
28.8
|
24.6
|
96
|
|
MP
|
1.6
|
38.3
|
60.3
|
25.0
|
27
|
|
Odisha
|
5.3
|
46.4
|
44
|
10.2
|
19.3
|
|
Punjab
|
0.7
|
8.4
|
27
|
54.6
|
70.8
|
|
Rajasthan
|
0.0
|
22.1
|
44
|
45.4
|
30.8
|
|
Uttar Pradesh
|
1.5
|
32.8
|
47.3
|
10.3
|
33.1
|
|
West Bengal
|
9
|
24.7
|
43.5
|
27.9
|
59.5
|
|
All-India
|
1.9
|
27.5
|
45.9
|
42.0
|
44.5
|
A version of this article
appeared in the 23rd September, 2013 issue of the Mint (Live Mint) under
the banner “Malnutrition not Hunger ails India: http://www.livemint.com/Opinion/3qMKRqinXT0Dlkl39K5N3M/Malnutrition-not-hunger-ails-India.html