Starvation deaths remain a stark reality even in this time and age, and the Govt must not shut its eyes

The Attorney General of India told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that no one died of starvation in recent times. That is a sweeping statement considering, as the court pointed out, the officer was relying on old data. The court was hearing a petition seeking a national community kitchen policy to avoid starvation deaths. The officer replied that the Centre has to depend on the States reporting starvation deaths, and they have not reported a single death in recent years. The court came back asking him about media reports on a starvation death in Tamil Nadu. The last reported starvation death occurred in Villupuram in Tamil Nadu on December 19, 2021, where the victim was a five-year-old boy and the autopsy revealed no trace of food in the intestine; that meant the boy had had no food for at least two days before his death. In July 2018, three children died of starvation in Delhi. Authorities performed a second post-mortem to doubly confirm the cause of death. The children had not eaten anything eight to nine days before their deaths. There is no way of saying that starvation deaths do not occur. Current data indicates the presence of pre-starvation stages among children. A total absence of food leads to starvation. Intermittent availability of food leads to hunger which in turn leads to malnutrition that harms children by stunting their developmental milestones. What the hungry need is not just any food but nutritious food.

That is the key to India’s food security policy that sees hunger as an aspect of malnutrition. A person having meals of only rice may not feel hungry but will develop nutritional deficiencies. Millions of people are out there today who have to make do with a single meal or skip meals altogether. The pandemic has made access to food more difficult. Surveys show a shocking amount of food and perishables are thrown away in Indian homes every year while tonnes of grains rot in godowns across India. The Government must ensure diet diversity and adequate and subsidised animal source foods to the poor. An elementary, nutritious diet apparently costs around Rs 30 per person per day. The cash transferred to the poor at present cannot sustain a family of four for a month. That is why the food policy must be rational. India today has surplus food grains. The poor can, therefore, access thrice their normal monthly rations, irrespective of ration or Aadhaar cards. The public distribution system can expand from grain and pulses to include essentials such as eggs, milk and fruits. Some States already provide eggs to mothers and children through the Anganwadi system. It is worthwhile exploring alternative foods using millets and legumes which contain nutrients and can store for long periods. We can do without religious controversies in making eggs mandatory in mid-day meal schemes; fruit or milk being the option for non-egg eaters. Nutrition, not merely food, is the great equaliser.