It is shocking that a slow realization is dawning upon a significant section of India's population that the food situation in the country is worse than that prevailing in many sub-Saharan African countries. Who is responsible for this sorry situation in which the country finds itself, though 'authorities' in Delhi continue to declare from their plush offices that the present situation does not call for pressing the panic button? Blaming monsoon is a favorite pastime which is the only excuse to hide behind. Of course due to poor irrigation infrastructure development, water availability is continuously dwindling and reduced crop yield is inevitable as the green revolution success is critically dependent on adequate water supply.
Here is what a commentator has to say about the situation in the country."Therefore, the government, if it really means business on the price front and acts to urgently secure access to food and nutritional requirements of the 'aam aadmi', will have to decisively reverse the current trend of dismantling the PDS and exclude vast numbers. The answer to the current crisis lies in creating a truly universal PDS and do away with misplaced computation of the poverty line which has no consonance with the ground reality. This will have a double benefit: Ensuring food security for the vulnerable and bringing down the price line in the open market. There is enough empirical evidence to suggest that such government intervention, insulating large numbers from the whims of the market, will have a sobering effect on the price line".
With annual food grain production swinging between 180 million tons and 210 million tons, the future production increases are uncertain and more than 6 million hectares are not being cultivated this year for want of sufficient soil moisture. The PDS is already in shambles and the vulnerability of those not having access to a universal PDS continue to rise. The encouraging weekly figures of inflation and WPI do not bring solace to the population which face a totally different ground reality with prices of every staple food sky rocketing with GOI as a mute spectator!. When the farmers look up the sky, he is not only praying for rains but also to God pleading for salvation from this desperate situation!
V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com
With annual food grain production swinging between 180 million tons and 210 million tons, the future production increases are uncertain and more than 6 million hectares are not being cultivated this year for want of sufficient soil moisture. The PDS is already in shambles and the vulnerability of those not having access to a universal PDS continue to rise. The encouraging weekly figures of inflation and WPI do not bring solace to the population which face a totally different ground reality with prices of every staple food sky rocketing with GOI as a mute spectator!. When the farmers look up the sky, he is not only praying for rains but also to God pleading for salvation from this desperate situation!
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com
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