UN says number of hungry in India drops by 6.5 per cent
October 07, 2013 - India, the world's second biggest wheat and rice grower, saw the
number of people who suffered from chronic hunger drop by 6.5 per cent to 213.8 million
(21.38 crore) during 2011-13, according to a joint report by United Nations food agencies.
During 2008-10, as many as 228.6 million (22.86 crore) people were undernourished
in the country, said the report by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International
Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP). "Despite
the progress made worldwide, marked differences in hunger reduction persist... The
vast majority of hungry people live in developing regions," the report said. At the
global level, some 842 million (84.2 crore) people in 2011-13 suffered from chronic
hunger, not having enough food for an active and healthy life. Their number has fallen
by 4 per cent from the 2008-10 level, it said. Most of the world's undernourished
people are still to be found in Southern Asia, closely followed by sub-Saharan Africa
and Eastern Asia, the report said. It underlined that economic growth is key for
progress in hunger reduction. "But growth may not lead to more and better jobs and
incomes for all, unless policies specifically target the poor. "In poor countries,
hunger and poverty reduction will only be achieved with growth that is not only sustained,
but also broadly shared." The report also stressed that the developing regions as
a whole have made significant progress towards reaching the target of halving the
proportion of hungry people by 2015. The report has urged countries in these regions
"to make considerable and immediate additional efforts" to meet the millennium development
goals. Rice and wheat production in India stood at 104.40 million tonne and 92.46
million tonne in 2012-13 crop year (July-June). This week, India’s Food Minister
KV Thomas was to address at a ministerial conference at the Rome-based FAO, to present
the government’s ambitious plan to subsidise food for two-thirds of the population.
The Food Security Bill, that became a law on Sept. 12, seeks to provide 5kg of grain
every month to some 800 million poor Indians. The law proposes to provide a kilo of
rice at three rupees, wheat at two rupees and millet at one rupee. Millions in India
live below the poverty line and many children are malnourished. (Source: NDTV)