INDIA'S RECORD FOOD PRODUCTION-NO PLACE TO STORE!

Does any self respecting Indian like to be told that the country called India about which every one is proud of, ranks lowly at 67th in the global hunger index and only there are 14 countries, most of them in Africa, doing worse than India! The Prime Minister of India shamelessly states that it is "unfortunate" to see 42% of the children in the country malnourished while 200 million of the citizens are under food-insecurity situation! Lamenting at these bitter truths is no solution after years of bungling and even now there does not appear to be any serious introspection about past failures. While every blunder committed can be condoned, playing with the precious lives of the citizens through non-performance, delayed action and utter indifference can never be pardoned so easily. These strong words are fully justified when it is realized that the food production in the country achieved by the hard work of its farmers is going to be squandered again, in spite of past experience due to failure in building adequate storage space. The agony and misery of Indian citizen can be gauged from the following report that appeared recently in the print media. 

Two years ago, Parliament erupted in chaos as the opposition slammed the government over the issue of rotting grains due to lack of sufficient storage space, and early indications are that this year may be no different. Food ministry officials say the government will add between 3 million tons and 4 million tons of storage capacity by May or June, just ahead of this year's wheat harvest, and a further 11 million tons by the end of next year. But in the past red tape has delayed such plans, leaving food out in the open to rot. "There will be a serious storage problem this year if proper steps are not taken on time," Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said in an interview. India produces enough food to feed its 1.2 billion people and the government purchases millions of tons of grains from farmers, guaranteeing them high prices and using the food for its subsidy programs. But corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies means that food doesn't always reach the most needy. Failure to meet promises to improve storage and distribution networks has compounded the problem. As a result, there are more than 200 million food-insecure people in India, the most of any country. The International Food Policy Research Institute's 2011 Global Hunger Index ranked India 67th out of 81 countries. In mid-January, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called India's malnutrition problem a national shame after a survey revealed that 42% of the nation's children are underweight. Inefficiencies in food distribution push up food costs even for those Indians who are not starving and is a major reason that inflation remains high. India's storage system is likely to come under even greater pressure in years ahead as India embarks on a multi-billion-dollar plan to funnel millions of tons of extra subsidized grain to its poorest people. India's cabinet last year approved a food security law and Parliament is expected to debate the legislation later this year.

It is still fresh in the memory of people in this country about the serious strictures passed by the Supreme Court last year against the government for allowing the food grains to rot in the open without utilizing the same for the welfare of the hungry and the downtrodden. The report that ready-built storage space by the private sector in Punjab is not being utilized because of corruption and callousness of the bureaucratic set up that controls every aspect of citizen's life to day, raises alarm signals regarding the intention of the government. Export of surplus is also not allowed, again due to the indifference of the powerful czars that decide on the export policy. Added to this the political expediency forces the government to raise the MSP levels arbitrarily contributing to serious food inflation making the lives of middle class and lower middle class families more and more miserable. The much "praised" food security bill which is nothing but a populist measure is bound to push this country into a quagmire!

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com