How Bad is the Hunger Problem in India Right Now and What Can Be Done?
- 3 years ago
On March 24, India was put under lockdown to curb the spread of the infectious disease. Over 100 crore people directly got impacted by the move. All construction work got shut down, labour couldn’t operate and the small and medium enterprise businesses were stopped dead.
With economic activity halting at such a large scale, the incomes of people outside the formal sector were bound to get affected.
Two days after the announcement of the lockdown, Finance minister Nirmala Sithararam made an announcement for the ‘poorest of the poor’ in the country. She said that 800 million beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) would receive 5 kilograms of grain (wheat or rice) in addition to the usual allocation of 5 kilograms per person.
This, she said, will be provided by the government free of charge for the next three months, i.e. April, May, and June. Along with this she also announced the direct cash transfers will be done.
Following the announcement, well-known and award-winning economists like Raghuram Rajan, Amartya Sen, and Abhijit Banerjee said that the Finance minister’s announcement is a welcome move but 5kg extra ration for three months won’t be enough.
How real is the problem of starvation in India amid the ongoing pandemic, The Wire's Kabir Agarwal explains.
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With economic activity halting at such a large scale, the incomes of people outside the formal sector were bound to get affected.
Two days after the announcement of the lockdown, Finance minister Nirmala Sithararam made an announcement for the ‘poorest of the poor’ in the country. She said that 800 million beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) would receive 5 kilograms of grain (wheat or rice) in addition to the usual allocation of 5 kilograms per person.
This, she said, will be provided by the government free of charge for the next three months, i.e. April, May, and June. Along with this she also announced the direct cash transfers will be done.
Following the announcement, well-known and award-winning economists like Raghuram Rajan, Amartya Sen, and Abhijit Banerjee said that the Finance minister’s announcement is a welcome move but 5kg extra ration for three months won’t be enough.
How real is the problem of starvation in India amid the ongoing pandemic, The Wire's Kabir Agarwal explains.
Like our work? Click here to support The Wire: https://thewire.in/support
The founding premise of The Wire is this: if good journalism is to survive and thrive, it can only do so by being both editorially and financially independent. This means relying principally on contributions from readers and concerned citizens who have no interest other than to sustain a space for quality journalism. As a publication, The Wire will be firmly committed to the public interest and democratic values.
We publish in four different languages!
For English, visit www.thewire.in
for Hindi: http://thewirehindi.com/
for Urdu: http://thewireurdu.com
for Marathi: https://marathi.thewire.in
If you are a young writer or a creator, you can submit articles, essays, photos, poetry – anything that’s straight out of your imagination – to LiveWire, The Wire’s portal for the young, by the young. https://livewire.thewire.in/
You can also follow The Wire’s social media platforms and engage with us.
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