RTF Update (Second Hunger Watch Survey)
Secretariat Right to Food Campaign
RTF Update (February-March 2022)
Second Hunger Watch Survey
A national survey by the Right to Food Campaign titled ‘Hunger Watch’ carried out in the months of December 2021 & January 2022 by interviewing around 6700 households of vulnerable communities across 14 states captures the crisis in terms of income decline and severe food insecurity especially among the economically weaker and marginalised sections of society:
66% people stated that their income had decreased compared to the pre-pandemic period
80% reported some form of food insecurity while 25% reported severe food insecurity in terms of having to skip meals, eating less than usual, running out of food, not being able to eat for a whole day and going to bed hungry due to lack of money or other resources.
41% said that nutritional quality of their diet deteriorated compared to the pre-pandemic period.
67% could not afford cooking gas in the month preceding the survey.
45% of households had outstanding debt.
The full conference is available here.
The Hunger Watch interim findings.
Media coverage of the survey findings: thehindu, toi, businessstandard, telegraphindia, scroll.in, bloombergquint, Newsclick
Article based on survey findings: Hungry Land (1st March, 2022 The Telegraph), Persistence of food insecurity and malnutrition (11th March, 2022), The Precarity of urban households (1st March, 2022), The worsening Hunger problem of India's poor (25th March, 2022 Indian Express).
Letters and Statements issued by Right to Food Campaign and networks
The Right to Food Campaign sent a letter to the Prime Minister of India on taking urgent steps required for ensuring universal access to food security.
रोज़ी रोटी अधिकार अभियान द्वारा प्रधानमंत्री को खाद्य सुरक्षा के सार्वभौमिक पहुँच सुनिश्चित करने के लिए आवश्यक तत्काल कदम उठाने की मांग करते हुए पत्र भेजा गया।
पश्चिम सिंहभुम जिले के सोनूआ प्रखंड उदयपुर गांव के 64 कार्ड धारी ने अपनी समस्या को लेकर फरवरी 26 तारीख को अपनी शिकायत आवेदन ज़िला शिकायत पे डाला गया था और 30 दिन से ज्यादा होने के बाद भी समस्या का निराकरण नहीं हो पाया. जिस को लेकर आज ग्रामीण के दौरा एक बैठक करके राज्य खाद्य आयेग के नाम पे फिर से आवेदन भेजा गया।
राष्ट्रीय खाद्य सुरक्षा कानून के अंतर्गत आच्छादित राशनकार्ड धारकों को अकारण और अचानक दूसरे राशन डीलर के साथ सम्बद्ध करने के विरुद्ध ज़िला आपूर्ति पदाधिकारी, लातेहार झारखंड को नरेगा सहायता केंद्र द्वारा पत्र भेजा गया
नरेगा संघर्ष मोर्चा द्वारा मार्च 21 को जारी की गई प्रेस विज्ञप्ति
मनरेगा मज़दूर संतोष ठाकुर और दीपा देवी की गिरफ्तारी अन्यायपर्णू काम माँगा तो मिली जेल
What has changed? Working Poor still toiling, yet state apathy
continues to undermine basic rights of migrants / CITIZENS!!
A statement on the condition of India’s migrant workforce two years after the COVID-19 lockdowns was issued by Working Peoples’ Coalition
Joint Press Release (English/Hindi) by NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM) and People’s Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG)
Modi Government’s Assault on NREGA Continues: Abysmal Wage Rates for NREGA in FY 2022-23
Right to Food Campaign Jharkhand organised its state convention in Ranchi, Jharkhand from 11-13th March.
जन वितरण प्रणाली द्वारा पहाड़ टोली गांव में दिए गए फोर्टिफाइड चावल के दुष्प्रभाव (खूंटी ज़िला झारखंड)
AN UNDEMOCRATIC, INEFFECTIVE, AND RISKY APPROACH TO NUTRITION
If you would like to join this effort of addressing malnutrition in India through diverse, community-
controlled solutions, and resist the rice fortification push by the Government, do write at
Press Release by NAPM: Khodgaon, Narayanpur (Chhattisgarh), Date – 30.03.2022
"Will not allow iron ore transportation from Rowghat Mines" - Villagers of the affected area have blockaded the road to stop ore transportation
“This ore is ours, the company is stealing it, no gram sabha has given consent for mining”
"Stop Rowghat Mines immediately!"
Opinion pieces, articles and news reports related to food and other issues
DUET: A proposal for an urban work programme (Jean Dreze)
Jean Drèze presents a proposal for a simple scheme of subsidised public employment in urban areas, generated by multiple public institutions on their own initiative.
The debate around Urban employment guarantee scheme is once again in the discussion actively with the Rajasthan govt’s announcement of an urban job guarantee scheme.
Does Akshaya Patra actually serve midday meals in schools for free? (Sruthisagar Yamunan)
the controversy about the mid-day meals served in schools in several states by Akshaya Patra, a non-governmental organisation run by the International Society For Krishna Consciousness, resurfaced following a heated debate on social media about a report about the programme published in The Hindu.
In the article by journalist Archana Nathan, several school children in Karnataka complained that they did not like the food served because it was bland. The reason for this, the report pointed out, is because Akshaya Patra does not add garlic and onion to the food, despite these ingredients featuring on the menu recommended by the state government.
Mandatory rice fortification with Iron (Vandana Prasad)
The lack of evidence and misplaced policy design underlie the government’s push for fortifying staples with iron.
Why India’s food subsidies are not enough (Nushaiba Iqbal)
The food subsidy is both a consumer and a producer subsidy. It is used to buy grains from farmers at a price that makes farming remunerative and then sell the grain to poor households at lower prices, or in some cases, for free. Some part of the subsidy is also spent on maintenance and other administrative costs.
India’s food subsidy plan needs to improve coverage, plug leakages
A crucial safety net, the food subsidy is used to protect farmers against low market prices and provide consumers with affordable food grains through the public distribution system (PDS)
1 kg dal for Re 1 per month to each family under food security scheme in Jharkhand
The Jharkhand government declared that it will provide 1 kg of pulses at Re one per month to each family under the Food Security Scheme every month.
The cost of distribution will be borne by the state government, Jharkhand Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon told the media in a post-budget briefing.
Is millet farming the future of India's sustainable agriculture?
Traditionally, India has a history of high millet consumption and cultivation. After the green revolution, once rice and wheat were introduced to our diets and promoted aggressively, millet farming and its consumption dramatically fell. The consumption of millets in India today is over-indexed in tier 2 and 3 cities with most of them only known by their local names.
Tamil Nadu govt allocates Rs 33,007 crore to agriculture department for 2022-23
State Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister MRK Panneerselvam, while presenting the budget on Saturday, said that the government will implement schemes to increase millet production in the state.
Andhra Pradesh: strategy to stop Public distribution System grain diversion a hit
The Centre has directed state governments to adopt the AP model to prevent leakage in the PDS scheme. AP State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited (APSCSCL) has successfully carried out the Rice Age Test in the last two seasons and found the tests very useful to detect the age of the produce.
Public expenditure on agriculture in India declined considerably in past decade: Experts
The study conducted by the Bengaluru-based Foundation for Agrarian Studies also found that while the share of the Centre in total expenditure on agriculture went down, there was an increase in the share of expenditure by the state governments.
Cabinet approves extension of PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana till September 2022
India could see winter crop cultivation shrink by 20% as groundwater depletes, study finds
Study by Indian and US researchers says that alternate plans need to be devised as a complete switch to canal irrigation will not compensate for groundwater loss.
Rural jobs scheme: Only half of targeted work created in FY22
Each beneficiary rural household received just 50 days of wage employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MG-NREGS) in 2021-22, against the scheme’s mandate to provide at least 100 days of employment to every such household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work in every financial year.
Sonia Gandhi slams govt over NREGA cuts; ministers hit back
Congress president Sonia Gandhi tore into the government over budgetary cuts in allocation for MGNREGA, which she maintained is weakening the legal guarantee of timely payment and jobs.
झारखंड के 700 स्कूलों के मिड डे मिल का होगा सोशल ऑडिट, इन बिंदुओं पर होगी जांच पड़ताल
झारखंड राज्य मध्याह्न भोजन प्राधिकरण ने वर्ष 2021-22 के सोशल ऑडिट के लिए स्कूलों के चयन की प्रक्रिया पूरी कर ली है. सात हजार स्कूलों का चयन किया गया है. अब वर्ष 2021-22 के लिए इन स्कूलों में मध्याह्न भोजन योजना के सोशल ऑडिट को लेकर वर्क ऑर्डर जारी कर दिया गया है. अप्रैल से इसकी प्रक्रिया शुरू होगी.
Govt terms Centre’s NREGA wage rate 'stepmotherly'
The Jharkhand government has termed the Centre’s MGNREGA wage rate for the state “stepmotherly” and decided to continue adding an extra amount from its own coffers to pay “decent” wages to workers.
45 लाख परिवारों को जून से मिलेगा फोर्टिफाइड चावल
राशन कार्ड लाभुकों, आंगनबाड़ी व मध्यान भोजन में मिलेगा फोर्टिफाइड चावल।