(a) whether India fares poorly in hunger index and ranks 94 out of 107 countries in the Index as the country has the highest prevalence of undernourished children, even Bangladesh and Pakistan score better and 76% of rural Indians cannot afford nutritious diet and there is a need for a revamped PDS to tackle nutritional deficits; and
(b) if so, the details thereof along with the funds spent so far in the last five years and the corrective steps being taken in this regard?
A N S W E R
MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
(SHRI DANVE RAOSAHEB DADARAO)
(a) & (b): As per information available in the public domain (https://www.globalhungerindex.org/download/all.html), India ranks 94 in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2020 report brought out by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerlife. As per GHI Reports, the composite GHI scores of India have improved from 38.9 in 2000 to 27.2 in 2020. Thus, the country has shown consistent improvement over the years. The calculation of GHI is based on following indicators namely:
(i) the percentage of population that is undernourished (1/3rd weightage);
(ii) percentage of children under five years old who suffer from wasting and stunting (1/3rd weightage); and
(iii) child mortality (1/3rd weightage).
The value of Undernourished indicator calculated over the span of time shows that India has made significant improvement. The score of the indicator improved from 18.6 in 2000-2002 to 14.0 in 2017-2019. Bangladesh is ranked 75 and Pakistan is ranked 88.
..........2/-
-2-
The Government of India accords high priority to the issue of hunger and has been providing foodgrains at highly subsidized prices to the targeted population through State Governments/Union Territory Administrations under National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 and Other Welfare Schemes (OWS). NFSA provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thus covering about two-thirds of the population of the country for receiving foodgrains @ Rs 1/2/3 per kg for nutri-cereals/wheat/rice respectively. Identification of beneficiaries under the Act is under two categories- households covered under Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) and Priority Households (PHH), within the coverage determined for the State/UT. While Priority Households are entitled to receive 5 kg per person per month, AAY households, which constitute the poorest of the poor, continue to receive 35 Kg of foodgrains per household per month. At present, the Act is being implemented in all the States/UTs covering about 79.43 crore persons to get highly subsidized foodgrains. The coverage under the Act is substantially high to ensure that all the vulnerable and needy sections of the society get its benefit. The Act also contains provisions for nutritional support to pregnant women and lactating mothers and children upto 14 years of age.
The implementation of NFSA through the Public Distribution System (PDS) is a joint responsibility of the Central and State Governments/UT Administrations, and the State Governments/UT Administrations are responsible for the identification of beneficiaries under the NFSA.
During the year 2019-20, the Government allocated a quantity of 605.72 lakh MT of foodgrains to the States/UTs under NFSA, Other Welfare Schemes and allocations due to natural calamities and festivals. During the current year i.e. 2020-21, the Government of India has so far allocated 943.53 lakh MT of foodgrains under NFSA, OWS, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyaan Anna Yojana, Atmanirbhar Bharat and other additional allocations. The scheme of End-to-End Computerization of the PDS has ensured rightful targeting of the beneficiaries all over the country.
Government of India has issued advisories to all States/UTs to identify and cover the weakest sections of the society under PDS and launch special drives to issue ration cards to them. Advisories have been issued to all State/UTs that no beneficiary/household shall be deleted from the list of eligible beneficiaries/households only on the grounds of not possessing Aadhaar and shall also not be denied subsidized foodgrains or cash transfer of food subsidy under NFSA due to non-availability of Aadhaar or failure of biometric authentication.
..........3/-
-3-
Further, some very critical programme and schemes have been launched by the Government in last 3-4 years particularly, POSHAN Abhiyaan, Anemia Mukt Bharat, Rotavirus and Pneumococcal vaccines. Home Based Newborn Care, Home Based Care of Young Child with the aim to improve Health and Nutrition outcomes particularly of Women and Children.
To address anemia and micro-nutrient deficiency in the country, Government of India approved Centrally Sponsored Pilot Scheme on "Fortification of Rice & its Distribution under Public Distribution System (PDS)" for a period of 3 years beginning in 2019-20 with total outlay of Rs 174.64 Cr. The Pilot Scheme is intended to focus on 15 Districts, preferably 1 District per State. The scheme is funded by the Government of India in the ratio of 90:10 in respect of North-Eastern, Hilly and Island States and in the ratio of 75:25 in respect of the rest of the States. Fifteen State Governments i.e. Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand & Madhya Pradesh have consented and identified their respective Districts (1 District Per State) for implementation of the Pilot Scheme. So far, Six states namely of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh & Uttar Pradesh have started distribution of fortified rice under the scheme in their selected districts.
Anganwadi Services, under umbrella Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme is one of the flagship programmes of the Government of India. The Centrally Sponsored Scheme provides a package of six services comprising of (i) Supplementary Nutrition (SNP); (ii) Immunization; (iii) Health Check up; (iv) Referral Services; (v) Pre-School Non-formal education and (vi) Nutrition & Health Education since 1975. The services here is a universal self-selecting and the Scheme aims at addressing health, nutrition, early learning and the development needs of young children as well as pregnant women and nursing mothers. Expenditure in respect of Anganwadi Services under umbrella ICDS is as below:
(in Rs. crore)
S. No. Year Expenditure
1 2016-17 14,430.31
2 2017-18 15,155.34
3 2018-19 16,811.71
4 2019-20 16,891.99
5 2020-21 (as on 31.12.2020) 12,672.83
..........4/-
-4-
The details of total funds (subsidy) released by the Govt. of India to Food Corporation of India and Decentralized Procurement (DCP) States during the last 5 years as below:
(in Rs. crore)
Year FCI DCP States Total subsidy released
Net subsidy released* Subsidy released
2016-17 78334.61 27338.35 105672.96
2017-18 61981.69 38000 99981.69
2018-19 70098 31029.485 101127.485
2019-20 75000 44944.35** 119944.35
2020-21
(upto 18.01.2021) 77980 37187.71 115167.71
*Over & above, amount of Rs. 25000 crore in FY 2016-17, Rs 40000 crore in FY 2017-18, Rs 70000 crore in FY 2018-19 and Rs 44164.02 crore in FY 2019-20 released from food subsidy, has been adjusted for repayment of National Small Savings Fund (NSSF) loan for 2020-21.
**The RE, 2019-20 was Rs 33508.35 crore. Total release includes Rs. 11436 crore released to DCP States from NSSF loan to FCI & equivalent amount is to be reimbursed to FCI during FY 2020-21 from DCP head. Accordingly, Ministry of Finance has additionally allocated (over and above BE for 2020-21) Rs 10000 crore for repayment to FCI for NSSF loan & said amount of Rs. 10000 crore has been released to FCI from DCP head in October 2020. The amount of Rs 10000 crore to FCI for NSSF loan has not been included in the subsidy figures mentioned for DCP or FCI.
***