Vouchers for poor? UN in talks with govt on zero-hunger goal



Lack Of Nourishment, Hygiene Threaten An Entire Generation

World Food Programme (WFP) executive director Ertharin Cousin said she was in talks with the Indian government and states to explore food vouchers for the poor facing starvation and malnourishment in the country .Cousin said vouchers were important in taking food to those facing shortage. “We are talking to India on how food vouchers can be used to make food available to vulnerable groups,“ she told TOI on the sidelines of the B-20 Australia Summit that has brought big business together in a lead-up event ahead of the November’s G-20 Summit.
The comment from the head of the world body adds another dimension to the Right to Food law that awaits implementation. RTF was passed by Parliament in UPA-2 and is likely to be rolled out soon by the Narendra Modi government. Subsidized food versus vouchers is a debate that was thought to have been settled with the food guarantee Act, a polarizing issue among civil society.
Cousin refused to be drawn into an either-or situation but stuck to vouchers by arguing that different modalities could be employed in the course of achieving food security, with
zero-hunger being one of the key Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).She said the world faces problems of food shortage and also of food being available but being out of reach of certain weak communities. “In certain places and with certain communities, the vouchers, we believe, can be the right idea and can serve the purpose of helping the vulnerable groups,“ she said. She has been invited to the global business gathering for talks on how food security converges with business growth.
Referring to the stress on food security in India, she said the country was an example for the world. “We have a lot to learn from India that recognizes that economic growth is not being felt across all social groups,” she said.
Addressing reporters at the B-20 Summit, she said economic growth did not automatically guarantee the end of hunger and top economies like the US had “safety nets” and programmes to buffer vulnerable groups.
She told reporters that China had benefitted the most from WFP efforts while India, despite massive economic development, had the largest number of children facing malnourishment. Cousin said no government or organization alone could achieve zero-hunger and there was need for help from private sector, which has to go beyond providing money for technological capabilities.

FOOD THAT DIDN'T REACH THE PLATEThe Targeted Public Distribution System launched in 1997 seeks to provide highly subsidized grain to the really poor. The system is operated jointly by the Centre and states. The Centre, through FCI, procures, stores and transports grain.
States are responsible for identifying eligible families, issuing ration cards and functioning of fair price shops. About 652 lakh below poverty line families are entitled to subsidized grain. These apart, it is estimated that about 5% of people in India sleep without two square meals a day. These 2.4 crore people, the poorest of the poor, and households headed by widows, terminally ill or disabled persons and persons aged 60 years or more with no assured means of subsistence or societal support are covered under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY). Data shows in 2013-14, the grain lost in transit, storage and so on could have been enough for the monthly PDS ration of 17% of BPL families or 45% of those under AAY

Source:::: The Times of India, 18.07.2-14, p.10,   http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=Vouchers-for-poor-UN-in-talks-with-govt-18072014010037

1/3rd of world's extreme poor in India: UN study





India is home to the largest number of poor with one-third of the world’s 1.2 billion extreme poor living here. It also had the highest number of under-five deaths in the world in 2012, with 1.4 million children dying before reaching their fifth birthday, according to the UN Millennium Development Goals report 2014.

Poverty rates in Southern Asia fell from 51% in 1990 to 30% two decades later with China leading the way. Extreme poverty in China came down from 60% in 1990 to 16% in 2005 and 12% in 2010. In India poverty reduction was sluggish in comparison coming down from 49.4% in 1994 to 42% in 2005 and 32.7% in 2010.

Two-thirds of the extreme poor (those who lived on income less than $1 a day) live in India, China, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Congo.

Commenting on the report, minority affairs minister Najma Heptulla said its findings present a challenge to the government under Narendra Modi and that it would be able to surmount it. “Good days will come,” she said. “We don’t have to be proud of what we have done. Poverty is the biggest challenge... I am sure when the next report comes, we will have done much better,“ she said. Heptulla stressi ed on the Prime Minister's commitment to poverty elimination and his mantra of “sab ka saath, sabka vikas (With all, development for all)“.

The report said almost i 60% of the people who defecate in open reside in India. The country also accounted for 17% of global maternal deaths. South Asia has halved its under-five mortality but in h 2012 it accounted for 2.1 million of the 6.6 million deaths in children under five worldwide % and has the second highest under-five mortality rate among all regions with sub-Saharan Africa being the worst.South Asia, of which India. is the largest and most populous country , has fared worse than other Asian regions in most parameters. The region has, however, done well in school enrollment.

UN Resident Coordinator Lise Grande said India's role in global development is very important and the Millennium Development Goals can't be reached globally if they're not reached here. South Asia did see sharp increase in youth literacy rates between 1990 and 2011, which increased from 60% to 80%.

Source::: The Times of India, 17.07.2014, p.6,    http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31804&articlexml=13rd-of-worlds-extreme-poor-in-India-UN-17072014008057