The Global Hunger Index is vital as it assesses the status of society by focusing on children's nutrition; otherwise, such data would not be captured, writes Sachin Kumar Jain
When the sustainable development goals were being formulated, Goal II was one on which leaders across the world were unanimous in their decision, that hunger should be eliminated by 2030. Additionally, elderly, children and women would be given priority to achieve the status of safety of food and nutrition. But the problem is that we are not ready to accept the magnitude of the problem.
Instead of seriously discussing the Global Hunger Index (GHI), the debate is focused on what is India’s position on the GHI — is it 50th or 100thIJ And if it is at the 100th position, is it true or notIJ Efforts are on to focus on the fundamental causes of starvation but this unsuccessful attempt is nothing more than hiding its failures. The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has been measuring the level of starvation in the world through the index for the past several years.
These indexes are important because they assess the status of society, keeping the central focus on children’s nutrition; otherwise normally, reports are bereft of children. These indexes are prepared by adding data related to low nutrition, malnutrition and mortality rate below five years. At a glance, it seems that this is a limited standard for measuring starvation levels.
To a large extent this is true. But the truth is that starvation index must be understood from the point of view of life cycle. It includes gender discrimination, child marriage, violence, possibility of child survival on birth, breastfeeding and protection of children’s food, maternity rights, protection of natural resources and community rights on them right from the communal-racist untouchability and freedom from violence, the interests of farmers-laborers are also included.
The low position of India in the index indicates the situation of the backward and the tribal sections of society. In India, 10.4 million people belong to the tribal society. They have their own cultural and social identity and lifestyle. They have consciously made use of natural resources to overcome starvation, but global economic policies have taken away their water, forest and culture based system.
According to UNICEF’s report (2016-17) ‘Nutrition and Tribal People — A Report on Nutrition — Situation of India’s Tribal Children’, when there is sustained food insecurity in family and society, then the growth of the children is more prone to be stunted.
With this, children remain sick, environment of the school too is not good due to adverse conditions and they cannot play the role of a healthy citizen. This situation is created due to poverty, food insecurity, and poor lifestyle. This information is not available in the results of the National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS IV) that how many children are malnourished in the tribal community. But according to NFHS III of 2005-06, 54 per cent ie, 62 lakh tribal children were the victims of malnutrition and stunted physical growth due to persistent hunger and continuous starvation. In States like Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Telangana, 47 lakh tribal children’s growth was found to be stunted.
It is the Constitutional responsibility of the Government to pull tribal society out of starvation. In 2006, the Parliament had enacted the Forest Rights Act so that tribals could be freed from encroachment of forest land. According to this law, tribal and other forest dwellers were given legal rights to land up to 10 acres of their occupation. Its collective rights were also included so that they could get uninterrupted rights even on forest produce, dry wood, medicines, water, fruits and vegetables. This was a mandatory step for their dignity and freedom from hunger. What happened to its fateIJ
According to the report of the Tribal Development Ministry, till February 2017, a total of 41.65 lakh claims were made for personal and community interests in India, out of which 18.47 lakh claims were rejected. In the majority of cases, according to the legal provision, the claimants were not told the reason for the application being rejected.
Basically, this issue is linked to our commitment to governance. In fact, society does not have to wait for the report of the GHI, if it intends to eradicate hunger. Any crisis is redeemed as an ‘opportunity for profit’. If malnutrition increases, companies producing nutritious food products begin to push for complete control by getting the Government contracts for supply.
Some international organisations are making out food to be a ‘complex subject’, so much so that hunger is now considered to be a disease. The Government has great faith in these organisations but poor citizens suffer the most when they have to prove their identity every month by producing their Aadhaar cards before they get five kilograms of rice or wheat from the public distribution system.
So, what is the solution to this problemIJ The alternative is the experience of thousands of years of Indian society dealing with food security and adverse situations. In contrast to traditional production systems, there is a need to adopt conventional systems of technology.
From farming to children’s upbringing and supervision of natural resources, we have many scientific practices. Western European civilisations, like Europe and America have also accepted these practices. If this is followed, attaining the goal of eliminating hunger completely by 2030 is possible and attainable.
(Courtesy: Charkha Features)