Hunger Crises In India

Hunger Crises Forces Even Middle-Class Indians To Line Up For Rations

NAFISA lost her four-months-old baby to hunger. 

 

Chanchal Devi’s three children haven’t tasted milk for almost a year

Kesariya lost her son . Hunger and helplessness pushed the young man to take his own life . Her family was without food for weeks with no aid in sight .

The hunger crisis is widespread and engulfing both India’s rural hinterland and urban areas alike. There are millions who cannot feed their families and the coronavirus has only exacerbated an already existing hunger problem in the country

Family which are two wage earners with some savings, living in rented accommodation — are among legions of Indians who saw their economic toehold ripped away in lockdowns over the last 12 months. More than 15 million Indians lost their jobs in May alone at the height of a devastating wave that overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums, according to the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy.

All of that is leading to an increase in hunger, particularly in urban areas, in a nation that already accounts for nearly a third of the world’s malnourished people. While few statistics are available, migrants and workers at food distribution centers in major Indian cities say they can’t remember seeing lines this long of people yearning for something to eat.

Fighting a dual battle: Hunger and COVID

An estimated 189 million people in India were already undernourished before the pandemic began. According to a study released earlier this month, the first wave of COVID-19 pushed 23 crore more Indians below the poverty line, among them 90 million children who have been deprived of midday meals – the one assured meal per day – ever since schools have been shut

So, despite the devastation being caused by corona’s second wave, for a large part of the population – which includes daily wage workers, agricultural labourers, construction workers, street vendors, small hawkers, etc – hunger is a more real, potent threat than the virus.

Millions across India are unable to make ends meet. A recent COVID-19 Livelihoods Survey by the Azim Premji University showed that hundreds of thousands of families have been compelled to reduce their food consumption during the pandemic.

At 25+ million, India now has the second highest number of total coronavirus cases after the United States. The pandemic has severely disrupted food security and nutrition, likely reversing the progress made towards the goal of ending hunger by 2030. With livelihoods lost because of the contagion and no income, lakhs of families belonging to the economically weaker sections have been pushed into poverty and are facing starvation and malnutrition. As Covid-19 rages on, thousands are losing their family members, and more families are losing their incomes, leaving them unable to cope.

Fact: In India , the household food waste estimate is 50 kg per capita per year, or 68,760,163 tonnes a year . 

Thank you. 

By- Divyam Agrwal